c10000BC Hunter gatherers settled for part of the
year at a site later called Wadi Hammeh in the Jordan Valley.
(NH, 11/1/04, p.15)

9,400BC-9,200BC In 2006 researchers reported the discovery of nine
carbonized fig fruits stored in Gilgal I, an early Neolithic
village, located in the Lower Jordan Valley, which dated to this
time.
(Reuters, 6/2/06)

c7000BC The Ain Ghazal farming settlement in
Jordan dated to this time. It was uncovered in 1974 during road
construction near Amman.
(SSFC, 11/9/03, p.C7)

300BC-68BC The Dead Sea Scrolls of Qumran, Jordan,
date to this period. The scrolls are usually identified with the
Jewish-monkish cult, the Essenes, know for their pathological
aversion to stool. In 2004 Chicago Prof. Norman Golb authored “Who
Wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls." In 2009 Israeli scholar Rachel Elior
theorized that the Essenes, did not exist. She suggested they were
really the renegade sons of Zadok, a priestly caste banished from
the Temple of Jerusalem by intriguing Greek rulers in 2nd century
BC. When they left, they took the source of their wisdom - their
scrolls - with them.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.74)(WSJ, 5/15/98, p.W11)(SFC,
9/6/04, p.A4)(TIME, 3/17/09)
300BC-68BC The Dead Sea Scrolls dating to this
period were discovered by Bedouin at the caves of Qumran in Jordan
in 1947. The scrolls predated the Christian gospels, but contained
many similarities. They also contained some differences from the
traditional (Masoretic) text of the Hebrew Bible. In 1955 Edmund
Wilson published "The Scrolls from the Dead Sea." In 1998 Hershel
Shank published "The Mystery and meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls."
From 1978-1998 over 6,000 books were written about the scrolls. The
discovery date was later contested as were many of the historic
circumstances surrounding the scrolls [see Jordan 1947].
(WSJ, 5/15/98, p.W11)(WSJ, 6/22/98, p.A20)

230 The St. Georgeous Church
was built in Jordon. In 2008 archeologists found a cave under the
church with evidence that it was used as a church by 70 disciples of
Jesus in the first century after his death, which would make it the
oldest Christian site of worship in the world.
(AP, 6/11/08)

363CE A devastating
earthquake leveled half the city of Petra, the principal city of
Nabatea.
(AP, 6/21/03)

632-661 The Rashidun Caliphate, also known as the
Rightly Guided Caliphate, comprising the first four caliphs in
Islam's history, was founded after Muhammad's death. At its height,
the Caliphate extended from the Arabian Peninsula, to the Levant,
Caucasus and North Africa in the west, to the Iranian highlands and
Central Asia in the east. It was the one of the largest empires in
history up until that time.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashidun_Caliphate)

661 Muawija became caliph. He
moved the capital from Medina to Damascus. His followers were called
the Umayyads. Muawija was one of the soldiers who helped capture
Damascus and for 25 years he had served as governor of Syria.
Muawija began the practice of appointing his own son as the next
caliph, and so the Umayyads ruled for the next 90 years. Muslim
forces expanded into North Africa and completely conquered Persia.
The Islamic Empire continued to expand into Afghanistan and
Pakistan. After the Omayyad Caliphs conquered Damascus, they build
the palace at Qasr Al-Kharaneh (in Jordan) as a recreational lodge.
(ATC, p.67,78)SFEC, 4/11/99, p.9)

1187 Jul 4, In the Battle of
Hittin (Tiberias) Saladin defeated Reynaud of Chatillon. Salah al
Din, who ruled from his imperial seat in ancient Syria, defeated
Christian armies of the Crusaders and forced their retreat from the
Holy Land. The battle was depicted in a mosaic that was found and
restored for the palace of Pres, Hafez Assad of Syria. Saladin
personally executed Crusader Reynaud of Chatillon (b.1124/5).
Reynaud of Chatillon, Lord of Kerak, Jordan, had violated twice
violated a tenuous truce and earlier this year attacked a caravan of
pilgrims returning from Mecca.
(WSJ, 9/30/96, p.A1)(Econ, 5/30/09,
p.24)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raynald_of_Chatillon)

1812 Swiss explorer Jean Louis
Burckhardt rediscovered the ancient city of Petra in present-day
Jordan. Burckhardt was a classic nineteenth-century adventurer, the
kind of man who would spend years polishing his disguise as an Arab
so he could pass unnoticed through the Middle East, a land not
always hospitable to curious Europeans. Under contract to the
African Association, a private group of wealthy men in Britain who
sponsored exploration, Burckhardt planned to cross the Sahara and
seek the source of the River Niger. He first perfected his traveling
persona as an Arab trader. On the way from Damascus toward Cairo he
decided to take a look inside valley in the hilly region north of
the Red Sea, rumored to contain the ancient ruins of a lost city.
Burckhardt told his reluctant guide that he had promised to
sacrifice a goat at the tomb of the prophet Aaron, which lay on a
mountaintop inside the valley. Although his guide grew increasingly
suspicious of his charge’s interest in the archeological wonders,
Burckhardt's ruse allowed him to become the first European to see
Petra in a millennium.
(HNQ, 5/26/01)

1880 Jordan, Lebanon and
Palestine were part of Syria under Ottoman rule.
(Econ, 5/27/06, p.80)

1916 May 19, The
Sykes-Picot Agreement was a secret understanding between the
governments of Britain and France defining their respective spheres
of post-World War I influence and control in the Middle East. The
boundaries of this agreement still remains in much of the common
border between Syria and Iraq. Britain and France carved up the
Levant into an assortment of monarchies, mandates and emirates. The
agreement enshrined Anglo-French imperialist ambitions at the end of
WW II. Syria and Lebanon were put into the French orbit, while
Britain claimed Jordan, Iraq, the Gulf states and the Palestinian
Mandate. Sir Mark Sykes (d.1919 at age 39) and Francois Picot made
the deal.
(WSJ, 2/27/00,
p.A17)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sykes-Picot_Agreement)

1920 Apr 20, Balfour
Declaration was recognized following a conference in San Remo,
Italy. It was agreed that a mandate to Britain should be formally
given by the League of Nations over an area, which in 2010 comprised
Israel, Jordan and the Golan Heights, to be called the "Mandate of
Palestine". The Balfour Declaration was to apply to the whole of the
mandated territory. The doctrine was named after British Foreign
Secretary Arthur James Balfour, who had first articulated it as a
policy on 2 November 1917.
(www.ijs.org.au/The-Balfour-Declaration/default.aspx)

1921 Mar 12, The Cairo
Conference, called by Winston Churchill, convened to establish a
unified British policy in the Middle East. Britain and France carved
up Arabia and created Jordan under Emir Abdullah; his brother Faisal
became King of Iraq. France was given influence over Syria and
Jewish immigration was allowed into Palestine. Faisal I died
one year after independence and his son, Ghazi I succeeded him.
Colonial Sec. Winston Churchill wanted to keep an air corridor to
Iraq, where the Royal Air Force was dropping poison gas on
rebellious Arab tribes.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairo_Conference_%281921%29)(SSFC,
10/14/01, p.D3)(Econ, 7/13/13, SR p.5)

1922 The West Bank became an
unallocated portion of the Palestine Mandate.
(SFC, 6/24/96, p.A19)

1923 May 25, Britain recognized
Transjordan with Abdullah as its leader.
(SC, 5/25/02)

1924 Mar 3, Kemal Ataturk
forced the abolition of the Muslim caliphate through the protesting
assembly and banned all Kurdish schools, publications and
associations. This ended the Ottoman Empire and created the modern
Middle East, though Iraq, Jordan, Syria and Saudi Arabia were still
colonies of Britain and France.
(WSJ, 2/11/99, p.A24)(SSFC, 10/14/01, p.A3)

1929 Feb, The state of
Transjordan, created in 1921 under British protection in the
aftermath of the Ottoman Empire's collapse, held its first elections
for a mostly powerless legislative council.
(AP, 1/23/13)

1947 The Dead Sea Scrolls were
discovered by Bedouin at the caves of Qumran in Jordan. The scrolls
predated the Christian gospels, but contained many similarities.
They also contained some differences from the traditional
(Masoretic) text of the Hebrew Bible. In 1955 Edmund Wilson
published "The Scrolls from the Dead Sea." In 1998 Hershel Shank
published "The Mystery and meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls." From
1978-1998 over 6,000 books were written about the scrolls. The
discovery date was later contested as were many of the historic
circumstances surrounding the scrolls. In 2010 Geza Vermes authored
“The Story of the Scrolls: The Miraculous Discovery and the True
significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls."
(WSJ, 5/15/98, p.W11)(WSJ, 6/22/98, p.A20)(Econ,
2/20/10, p.82)

1948 May 15, Hours after
declaring its independence, the new state of Israel was attacked by
Transjordan, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.
(AP, 5/15/97)

1948 Dec 8, Jordan annexed
Arabic Palestine. The old city of East Jerusalem came under
Jordanian control until 1968. Transjordan was given to a client Arab
family, the Hashenites (led by King Hussein’s grandfather), and was
run out of Mecca by the Saudis. The country now has an ethnic
Palestinian majority. Elections chose a body evenly divided between
Jordan and the Palestinian territories.
(SFC, 6/24/96, p.A19)(WSJ, 4/9/97, p.A14)(AP,
1/23/13)

1948-1949 Iraqi troops participated in the Arab
League invasion of the new state of Israel. Iraq joined Transjordan
and other Arab states to fight Israel. Most of Iraq’s 120,000 Jews
fled to Israel or the West.
(SFC, 2/24/98, p.A9)(SFC, 9/24/02, p.A10)

1951 Jul 20, Jordan's King
Abdullah Ibn Hussein was assassinated in Jerusalem by a
Palestinian extremist. Prince Hussein (15) witnessed the murder.
Talal became king with the assassination of his father, Abdullah
ibn-Hussein, who ruled when Jordan was a British mandate.
(AP, 7/20/97)(HN, 7/20/98)(SFC, 2/6/99,
p.A13)(MC, 7/20/02)

1953 May 2, Prince Hussein
became King Hussein (17) as he inherited the royal title from his
father Talal. King Hussein was installed on the throne after his
father, King Talal, had been declared insane.
(SFC, 1/23/99, p.A10)(SFC, 2/6/99, p.A13)(HNQ,
8/20/00)

1953 Oct 14, Ariel Sharon, who
had formed the elite Israeli commando unit "101" to fight
Palestinian guerrillas, led it in a raid against the Jordanian
village of Qibya killing some 70 civilians.
(SFC, 10/10/98, p.A8)(Econ, 12/16/06,
p.85)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qibya_massacre)

1953 Nov 16, The US joined in
the condemnation of Israel for its raid on Jordan.
(HN, 11/16/98)

1956 Oct, With anti-colonialism
on the rise throughout the Arab world, leftists took about half the
seats in elections considered among Jordan's freest ever.
(AP, 1/23/13)

1957 Apr, Jordan's
Western-allied King Hussein suspended parliament for four years
after an attempted leftist coup.
(AP, 1/23/13)

1958 Feb 14, The Arab
Federation of Iraq and Jordan formed under Iraq’s Faisal II. King
Hussein forged a federation with Iraq, which was led by his cousin,
Faisal II. The federation failed when Faisal was killed during a
revolution in Iraq.
(HNQ, 8/20/00)(MC, 2/14/02)

1958 Jul 14, In Iraq Gen. Abdel
Karim al-Kassem (Qassim) assassinated Faisal II with his son and
premier. Karim proclaimed a republic. Jordan’s King Hussein
succeeded Faisal. Faisal II, Hashemite King of Iraq (1939-58), was
assassinated at Baghdad and Noeri el-Said, premier of Iraq, was
murdered. Mohammed Hadid (d.1999 at 92) served as the first finance
minister under the government of Abdel Karim Qassem.
(PC, 1992 ed, p.963)(AP, 7/14/97)(USAT, 3/24/99,
p.18A) (SFC, 8/6/99, p.D4)

1960 Feb 7, Old handwriting was
found in at Qumran, Jordan, near the Dead Sea. [see 1947]
(MC, 2/7/02)

1963-1994 King Hussein of Jordan (1935-1999) held
at least 55 secret meetings with leading Israelis including at least
seven prime and foreign ministers.
(Econ, 11/24/07, p.88)

1965 Apr 1, King Hussein bin
Talal of Jordanian appointed his younger brother, Prince Hassan bin
Talal, as crown prince and heir to the Hashemite throne. This
required a change to the Jordan constitution to allow for fraternal
succession.
(MC, 4/1/02)

1966 Nov 10, A land mine near
Hebron killed 3 Israeli policemen. Israel retaliated with a weekend
strike against West Bank villagers and ran into Jordanian troops in
Samu. Palestinians rioted and demanded the overthrow of Jordan’s
Pres. Hussein. The Arab legion was forced to fire and killed at
least 4.
(WSJ, 6/5/02, p.D7)

1967 Jun 5, The Six Day War
erupted in the Middle East as Israel, convinced an Arab attack was
imminent, raided Egyptian military targets. Syria, Jordan and Iraq
entered the conflict. Jordan lost the West Bank, an area of 2,270
sq. miles. War broke out as Israel reacted to the removal of UN
peace-keeping troops, Arab troop movements and the barring of
Israeli ships in the Gulf of Aqaba.
(AP, 6/5/97)(HN, 6/5/98)(NG, 5/93, p.58)(HNQ,
5/22/00)
1967 Jun 5-1967 Jun 10, Israel
fought the Six-Day War against Syria and captured the Golan Heights,
the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Allegations that
Israeli soldiers killed hundreds of Egyptian prisoners with the
knowledge of national leaders were made by Israeli historians in
1995. Israel occupied Syrian territory. The Gaza Strip and the West
Bank were captured by Israel. Israel annexed the largely Arab East
Jerusalem, which included the Old City, and has since ringed it with
Jewish neighborhoods.
(WSJ, 8/17/95, p.A-1)(WSJ,11/24/95, p.A-1)(WSJ,
5/6/96, p.A-13)(SFC, 6/25/96, p.A10)(SFC, 1/22/98, p.B12)(SFC,
4/24/98, p.A17)

1967 Jun 8, On the 4th day of
the Six-Day War Israel captured the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula
from Egypt, as well as the West Bank and Eastern Jerusalem from
Jordan. Israel’s occupation of Gaza continued for the next 38 years.
(SSFC, 6/3/07, p.E6)(Econ, 1/10/09, p.9)

1967 Jun 10, Israel completed
its final offensive in the Golan Heights in the 6-Day Middle East
War. The next day Israel and Syria agreed to observe a United
Nations-mediated cease-fire. Israel took Gaza and the Sinai from
Egypt, Old Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan, and the Golan
Heights from Syria. In 2002 Michael B. Oren authored "Six Days of
War: June 1967 and the making of the Modern Middle East." Israeli
military historian Arieh Yitzhaki later said that his research
showed Israeli troops killed 300 Egyptian prisoners of war. Israel
said soldiers on both sides committed atrocities. In 2007 Tom Segev
authored “1967: Israel, the War and the Year that Transformed the
Middle East."
(AP, 6/10/97)(WSJ, 6/5/02, p.D7)(AP,
3/6/07)(Econ, 5/26/07, p.97)

1967 Jun 11, Israel and Syria
accepted a UN cease-fire. The UN brokered a cease-fire between
Israel and the defeated Egypt, Syria, and Jordan, ending the Six-Day
War with Israel occupying the Sinai, West Bank, East Jerusalem and
the Golan Heights. Israel annexed the largely Arab East Jerusalem,
which included the Old City, and has since ringed it with Jewish
neighborhoods.
(HN, 6/11/98)(AP, 6/11/03)(SFC, 6/25/96, p.A10)

1968 Mar 21, Israeli forces
attacked a Palestinian base belonging to Fatah in the
village of Al-Karameh in Jordan. Israeli forces engage in a
battle with Palestinian fighters for the first time. On 24 March
1968, the Security Council adopted resolution 248 (1968), condemning
the large scale and premeditated military actions by Israel
against Jordan. The Karameh mission failed. Muki Betser, Israeli
commando, was wounded. He later became commander of the Sayeret
Matkal, Israel’s elite counter-terrorist unit.
(SFC, 7/16/96,
p.E5)(www.un.int/palestine/chron60.shtml)

1970 Jun 11, Palestinian
guerrillas and King Hussein's army signed a truce in Jordan after
week of heavy clashes.
(AP, 6/11/03)

1970 Aug 7, Israel, Jordan and
Egypt agreed to a ceasefire under the terms of the US proposed Roger
Plan. The Roger Plan was originally proposed in a December 9, 1969,
speech at an Adult Education conference. The plan was formally
announced on 19 June 1970.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Attrition)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogers_Plan)

1970 Sep 6, Palestinian
guerrillas of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
seized control of three jetliners which were later blown up on the
ground in Jordan after the passengers and crews were evacuated. This
triggered a civil war in and the expulsion of Palestinians from
Jordan.
(SFC, 12/13/96, p.B4)(AP, 9/6/97)

1970 Sep 15, The Jordanian army
attacked Palestinian positions. Within days PLO officials and
commandos were expelled from Jordan and forced to move to Lebanon.
(www.nmhschool.org/tthornton/mehistorydatabase/arabisraeliwars.php)(SFC,
2/8/99, p.A6)

1970 Sep 16, The Black
September conflict began when King Hussein of Jordan declared
military rule in response to a fedayeen coup d’état to seize his
kingdom. This resulted in the deaths or expulsion of thousands of
Palestinians from Jordan.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_September_Organization)

1970 Sep 21, King Hussein sent
a plea to Israel for air support via the British embassy. Israel did
not respond. The Black September crises left 2,000 people dead in 13
days of fighting.
(SFC, 1/3/01, p.A12)

1970 Sep 27, A cease-fire
accord was signed in Cairo between the Jordanian army and
Palestinian guerrillas by King Hussein and Yasser Arafat brokered by
the Arab peace committee headed by Bahi Ladgham of Tunisia.
(SFC, 4/16/98, p.B4)(http://tinyurl.com/6e3v9s)

1970 Sep, During "Black
September" army troops loyal to King Hussein put down a revolt by
Palestinian guerrillas, who demanded the ouster of the King. Cmdr.
Habes al-Majali (d.2001 at 87) crushed the rebellion led by
followers of Yasser Arafat.
(SFC, 2/6/99, p.A13)(SFC, 4/24/01, p.B2)

1971 Jul 23, Walid Ahmad Nimer
al-Naser (b.1934), aka, Abu Ali Iyad, a senior Palestinian field
commander based in Syria and Jordan, was reported killed by the
Jordanian army. The PLO claimed he was captured and tortured to
death by Jordanian forces days earlier. A splinter group seeking
revenge soon developed within Fatah and came to be known as the
Black September Organization.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Ali_Iyad)

1971 Fatah, the armed faction
of the Palestine Liberation Organization, arrived in Lebanon
following its ouster from Jordan after losing the battles of "Black
September".
(SFC, 9/28/98, p.A10)(Econ, 1/24/15, p.42)

1973 Oct 6, The fourth
Arab-Israeli war in 25 years was fought. Israel was taken by
surprise when Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Jordan attacked on the Jewish
holy day of Yom Kippur, beginning the Yom Kippur War. Syria tried to
regain the Golan Heights with a massive attack with 1,500 tanks. The
assault, empowered by Russian equipment, was repulsed by air power.
(WSJ, 5/6/96, p.A-13)(TMC, 1994, p.1973)(AP,
10/6/97)(HN, 10/6/98)(Econ, 3/16/13, p.54)

1973 Dec 21, Israel, Egypt,
Syria, Jordan, US and USSR leaders met in Geneva. The Geneva
Conference of 1973 was an attempt to negotiate a solution to the
Arab-Israeli conflict as called for in UN Security Council
Resolution 338 which was passed after the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conference_(1973))

1974 Oct 30, An Arab summit in
Rabat, Jordon, decided that King Hussein would no longer speak for
the Palestinians and named the PLO under Yasir Arafat as the sole,
legitimate representative.
(www.palestinefacts.org/pf_1967to1991_rabat_1974.php)(SFC, 2/6/99,
p.A13)

1974 Nov, Jordanian women
gained the right to vote.
(AP, 1/23/13)

1977 Ahmad Chalabi (b.1944),
Iraqi-born and US educated banker, founded Petra Bank in Jordan. The
bank collapsed in 1990 following a scandal that involved an Iraqi
account in exile. Chalabi fled Jordan, was convicted in absentia of
bank fraud. He denied any wrongdoing.
(WSJ, 11/7/05, p.A4)

1978 Jun 15, Lisa Halaby
(b.1951), American-Arab of New York, married Jordan’s King Hussein
and became Queen Noor.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Noor_of_Jordan)(AP, 6/15/97)

1983 Apr 10, King Hussein of
Jordan, officially renounced pursuing any negotiations to implement
the Reagan Plan, and ceased negotiations with PLO.
(http://tinyurl.com/2q6ska)

1985 The Bani Hamida Women's
Weaving Project was founded with a $5,000 grant from the US-based
Save the Children group.
(WSJ, 11/26/99, p.A1)

1986 Feb 22, Jordan King
Hussein delivered a televised address in which he denounced PLO
leader Yasser Arafat and accused him of reneging of previous
promises made to accept resolutions 242 and 338.
(http://tinyurl.com/mlurr)

1986 Apr 17, At London's
Heathrow Airport, a bomb was discovered in a bag carried by an Irish
woman about to board an El Al jetliner; she had been tricked into
carrying the bomb by her Jordanian boyfriend.
(AP, 4/17/06)

1986 Jul 7, Jordan’s government
shut down all 25 offices of al-Fatah, the mainstream group in the
divided Palestine Liberation Organization.
(http://tinyurl.com/ycprwn)

1987 Jordan’s King Hussein
helped Palestinian Islamists set up their armed group Hamas with a
base in Amman.
(Econ, 1/24/15, p.42)

1988 Jun 4, US Secretary of
State George Shultz flew to Jordan, where he met with King Hussein.
Afterward, Shultz said the Jordanian monarch was reluctant to engage
in peace talks with Israel unless Israel agreed to give up land on
the West Bank.
(AP, 6/4/98)

1988 Jul 30, Jordan's King
Hussein dissolved his country's lower house of Parliament, half of
whose 60 members were from the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Hussein
renounced sovereignty over the West Bank to the PLO.
(AP, 7/30/98)(MC, 7/30/02)

1988 Jul 30, Jordan's King
Hussein dissolved his country's lower house of Parliament, half of
whose 60 members were from the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Hussein
renounced sovereignty over the West Bank to the PLO.
(AP, 7/30/98)(http://tinyurl.com/ov6pf)

1988 Jul 31, In a televised
speech, Jordan's King Hussein called for an independent Palestinian
state in the Israeli-occupied territories as he told the
Palestinians to take affairs into their own hands. Hussein renounced
claims to the West Bank, paving the way for new elections and
reforms.
(HN, 7/31/98)(AP, 1/23/13)

1988 In Jordan soon after the
beginning of the "intifada," King Hussein renounced rights to the
West Bank and retained a role as guardian of Jerusalem's holy
places.
(SFC, 2/6/99, p.A13)

1989 Nov 8, Jordan held
elections. Each voter cast one ballot for an individual candidate
and another for an electoral list. Islamists formed the largest bloc
in parliament.
(AP, 1/23/13)

1989 Economic reforms were
enacted.
(SFC,11/5/97, p.C2)

1989 Ahmad Chalabi (b.1944),
founding head of Petra Bank (1977), fled Jordan following a bank
scandal that involved an Iraqi account in exile. 13 people were
convicted including 9 Chalabis. Ahmed, who claimed the charges were
politically motivated, was sentenced in absentia to 22 years hard
labor for embezzling $300 million of state funds.
(Econ, 10/4/03, p.44)(WSJ, 11/7/05, p.A4)

1990 Aug 16, President Bush met
with Jordan’s King Hussein in Kennebunkport, Maine, where he urged
the monarch to close Iraq’s access to the sea through the port of
Aqaba.
(AP, 8/16/00)

1991 Jul 21, Jordan became the
fourth Arab country to sign on to a US-backed Middle East peace
conference.
(AP, 7/21/01)

1991 Nov 1, The 3-day session
of the Middle East peace conference recessed in Madrid, Spain. The
conference led to Israeli deals with Jordan and the Palestinians and
established the principle of land for peace.
(AP,
11/1/01)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madrid_Conference_of_1991)(Econ,
5/24/08, p.68)

1993 Sep 14, Israel and Jordan
signed a framework for negotiations, a day after the signing of a
PLO-Israeli peace accord.
(AP, 9/14/03)

1993 Nov, Jordan held new
elections in which each voter has one vote. King Hussein let Islamic
parties run for Parliament but rewrote voting rules to limit the
number of seats that they could win. This angered the Muslim
Brothers who said that the system favors local politicians with
tribal ties rather than ideologically based lists. They win only a
handful of seats and boycott the next elections.
(WSJ, 7/3/96, p.A1)(AP, 1/23/13)

1993 Jordan lifted press
restrictions.
(AP, 1/23/13)

1994 Jul 25, Israeli Prime
Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Jordan's King Hussein signed a
declaration at the White House ending their countries' 46-year-old
formal state of war.
(AP, 7/25/97)

1994 Aug 8, Israel and Jordan
opened the first road link between the two once-
warring countries.
(AP, 8/8/99)

1995 Feb 2, The leaders of
Egypt, Israel, Jordan and the Palestinians held an unprecedented
summit in Cairo to try to revive the Mideast peace process.
(AP, 2/2/00)(http://tinyurl.com/255pml)

1995 Dec, France just signed an
accord with Jordan providing for joint war games and technical
assistance as well as French training for the army and air force.
(WSJ, 12/18/95, p.A-10)

1995 The city of Amman was the
site of the 1995 MENA Economic Summit.
(WSJ, 10/27/95, p.A-1)

1996 Aug 19, King Hussein said
2 days of rioting over higher bread prices was quelled.
(WSJ, 8/19/96, p.A1)

1997 Mar 13, A Jordanian
soldier fired on Israeli junior high school girls on a field trip to
the Jordan River island known as Naharayim or Island of Peace. Seven
girls were killed and six injured.
(SFC, 3/14/97, p.A13)

1997 Sep 25, In Jordan Khaled
Mashaal, the political leader of Hamas, was chemically attacked by
two men with forged Canadian passports in Amman. Hamas accused the
men of being Israeli Mossad agents. Jordan's King Hussein
intervened, forcing Israel to send the antidote that saved the Hamas
leader's life and release the group's jailed founder in exchange for
the freedom of its captured agents.
(SFC, 10/2/97, p.A10)(SFC, 10/3/97, p.B4)(SFC,
10/12/97, p.A17)(AP, 9/25/04)

1997 Sep 29, It was reported
that Jordan shut down 13 weekly newspapers for allegedly failing to
maintain assets and cash to $430,000.
(SFC, 9/29/97, p.A12)

1997 Oct 1, Israel under PM
Netanyahu freed Sheik Ahmed Yassin (61), the founder and spiritual
leader of Hamas. The ill Yassin was taken to Jordan and
hospitalized. As part of the deal an antidote for the chemical used
on last week’s Meshaal attack was demanded by Jordan and Israel
requested the release of the Meshaal attackers. This secured the
release of two Mossad agents arrested in Jordan following a botched
assassination attempt against Hamas political leader Khalid Mashaal.
(SFC, 10/2/97, p.A10)(AP, 10/1/98)(Econ,
10/15/11, p.55)

1997 Nov 4, It was reported
that Jordan receives $225 million in annual aid from the US. Voter
turnout reached only 54.5% and tribal leaders loyal to King Hussein
won a majority of parliament, 47 of 80 lower house seats.
(SFC,11/4/97, p.A8)(SFC,11/5/97, p.C2)

1998 Jul 13, King Hussein went
to the US to receive treatment for cancer.
(SFC, 11/28/98, p.A12)

1998 Aug 19, In Jordan the
cabinet resigned over polluted drinking water in Amman and King
Hussein appointed Fayez Tarawneh to form a new administration.
Hussein was at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester for lymphatic cancer.
(SFC, 8/20/98, p.A16)

1998 Oct 20, King Hussein of
Jordan joined Pres. Clinton to press for the Israeli-Palestinian
compromise.
(WSJ, 10/21/98, p.A1)

1998 Jordan began a divestiture
program. By 2004 it reaped over $1 billion from the sale of
state-owned companies and expected to raise another $600 million.
(WSJ, 11/10/04, p.A15)

1998 Jordan received ok from
the American CIA to sell 50,000 surplus AK-47 assault rifles to
Peru. Many of the rifles went to leftist guerrillas in Colombia and
Vladimiro Montesinos, Peru’s spy chief, was implicated.
(SFC, 11/6/00, p.A12)

1998 Samih Toukan founded
Maktoob in Amman, Jordan, a software firm dedicated to replacing
English with Arabic in e-mail systems. Maktoob.com was the world’s
1st Arab language Web site. In 2000 the firm received a $2.5 million
cash injection from an Egyptian investment bank and launched the
first Arabic e-mail.
(SFC, 9/9/00, p.A14)(SSFC, 5/15/05, p.C1)(Econ,
4/12/14, p.40)

1999 Jan 19, In Jordan King
Hussein returned home following cancer treatment at the Mayo Clinic.
(SFC, 1/20/99, p.A10)

1999 Jan 22, King Hussein
informed his brother Hassan that he would be removed as successor
and would be appointed as a deputy. Hussein desired to move his own
sons in line for the Crown.
(SFC, 1/23/99, p.A10)

1999 Jan 25, In Jordon King
Hussein named his eldest son, Abdullah, as heir to the throne.
(SFC, 1/26/99, p.A12)

1999 Jan 26, In Jordan King
Hussein left for the Mayo clinic and his son Abdullah was sworn in
to run the country in his absence.
(SFC, 1/27/99, p.A7)

1999 Feb 5, In Jordan King
Hussein was pronounced clinically dead but his heart continued and
his family kept him on life support systems.
(SFC, 2/6/99, p.A1)

1999 Feb 7, In Jordan King
Hussein (63) officially died from Hodgkin's lymphoma. He was
succeeded by his eldest son, who takes the throe as Abdullah II. In
2008 “Lion of Jordan: The Life of King Hussein in War and Peace," by
Avi Shlaim was published.
(SFC, 2/8/99, p.A1)(AP, 2/7/00)(Econ, 11/24/07,
p.88)(AP, 1/23/13)

1999 Mar 26, In Jordan security
authorities released more than 20 activists of an illegal Islamic
party who were sentenced to different jail terms over the past year.
The decision to release Al Tahrir Party activists followed a public
amnesty signed by His Majesty King Abdullah last week under which
more than 2,500 prisoners and detainees are expected to be freed.
(www.jordanembassyus.org/033099003.htm)

1999 Jun 20, It was reported
that honor killings, the killing of girls and women by their
relatives to cleanse "soiled honor," regularly claim about 25 lives
a year.
(SFEC, 6/20/99, p.A4)

1999 Aug 23, The National
Popular Campaign for Ending So-Called Honor Crimes began efforts to
get rights for women and harsher laws against men who kill female
relatives for family honor.
(SFC, 8/24/99, p.A12)

1999 Nov 21, In Jordan King
Abdullah pardoned 25 Hamas members and expelled 4 of them to Qatar.
Jordanian authorities expelled Khalid Mishal, Ibrahim Ghawsha, and
two other members to Qatar; released the remaining detainees; and
announced that the HAMAS offices would remain closed permanently.
Charges against the HAMAS officials included possession of weapons
and explosives for use in illegal acts.
(www.fas.org/irp/threat/terror_99/mideast.html)(SFC, 11/22/99,
p.A13)(Econ, 10/10/09, p.50)

1999 Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi,
whose real name is Ahmed Fadheel Nazzal al-Khalayleh, was freed from
a prison in Jordan under a royal amnesty. He was doing jail time for
militant activities aimed at toppling the monarchy.
(AP, 11/21/05)

1999-2003 The US Volcker report of 2005 said that
Australia's wheat exporter, AWB Ltd., paid over $221 million during
this period to the Jordanian company, Alia, and that some of the
money was for the benefit of the Iraqi government.
(Econ, 1/28/06, p.41)

2000 Feb 22, In Jordan a
15-year-old boy strangled his sister (14) in a "crime of honor"
because he considered her to have shamed his family. An autopsy
revealed that the girl was a virgin.
(SFC, 2/25/00, p.D4)

2000 Mar 20, Pope John Paul II
arrived in Jordan for the beginning of his Holy land tour. He prayed
at Mt. Nebo where the bible says Moses first viewed the Promised
Land.
(WSJ, 3/20/00, p.A1)(SFC, 3/21/00, p.A1)

2000 Mar 28, Jordan with US
intelligence help indicted 28 followers of Osama bin Laden for
plotting attacks against American tourists in Dec.
(SFC, 3/29/00, p.A14)

2000 Apr 23, King Abdullah II
made his first state visit to Israel and spent 4 hours in Eilat with
Prime Minister Barak.
(SFC, 4/24/00, p.A12)

2000 Jun 18, In Jordan King
Abdullah II accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Abdur-Ra-‘uf
Rawabdeh and appointed economist Ali Abu Ragheb (54) to form a
cabinet.
(SFC, 6/19/00, p.A9)

2000 Sep 18, A military
tribunal sentenced 6 Muslim militants to death for planned terrorist
attacks against US and Israeli targets in Jordan. 4 of the 6 were at
large and tried in absentia.
(SFC, 9/19/00, p.A12)

2000 Dec, Raed Hijazi (33), a
California-born alleged operative of Osama bin Laden, was extradited
from Syria to Jordan for planning bomb attacks on Christian, Jewish
and US targets as part of a foiled millennium plot. [see Feb 11,
2002]
(SFC, 10/3/01, p.A7)

2000 The Jordanian village of
Taybet Zaman near Petra was bought wholesale and transformed into a
contemporary hotel.
(SSFC, 7/24/05, p.F5)

2000 The so-called Gabriel
Stone was reportedly found in Jordan. It features an unknown
prophetic text from the time of the Second Jewish Temple. In 2013 it
went on exhibit at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
(AP, 4/30/13)

2001 Mar 28, An Arab summit
convened in Amman. Delegates had already approved a draft resolution
for the UN to allow Baghdad to fund the Palestinian uprising.
(WSJ, 3/27/01, p.A17)

2001 Apr 10, Pres. Bush met
with Jordan’s King Abdullah and both agreed that ending violence in
the Middle East was the main goal for the region.
(WSJ, 4/11/01, p.A1)

2001 Apr, King Abdullah went on
a 5-day national tour with Peter Greenberg of the Travel Channel.
"His majesty ran me ragged."
(SSFC, 9/23/01, Par p.15)

2001 Sep 24, The US rewarded
Jordan for its role in the anti-terrorist coalition with the passage
of a free trade treaty.
(SFC, 9/25/01, p.A1)

2001 Nov 4, It was reported
that some 400,000 Iraqis lived in Jordan, most of them refugees from
the Gulf War, and that Iraqi intelligence agents operated there
freely.
(SSFC, 11/4/01, p.A3)

2001 Nov 9, King Abdullah II
said his country would consider sending troops to Afghanistan to
help the anti-terrorism coalition.
(SFC, 11/10/01, p.A3)

2001 At Washington’s request
the UN Security Council ordered that the assets of Yassin Qadi, a
Saudi businessman and multimillionaire, be frozen soon after the Sep
11 attacks in NYC. He was alleged to be a financier of Islamic
terrorism with close links to al-Qaida. The EU froze the assets of
Yasin al-Qadi, a Saudi businessman, and the Al-Barakaat
International Foundation, a Sweden-based charity suspected of
funding al-Qaida terror groups. In 2008 the EU's highest court
overturned the decision saying the order failed to offer those on a
terror blacklist any legal rights to a judicial review under
European law. Also frozen were the assets of Omar Mohammed Othman,
also known as Abu Qatada, an extremist Muslim preacher from Jordan.
In 2009 an EU court voided the freeze on Othman due to lack of
proper judicial review. Othman has lived in Britain since 1993, has
been arrested several times there under anti-terrorist legislation
and currently faced deportation to Jordan.
(WSJ, 8/29/07, p.A1)(AP, 9/3/08)(AP, 6/11/09)

2002 Feb 19, In Jordan a
military prosecutor froze the assets of some prominent businessmen
and former intelligence officials. Fraudulent loans were reported to
be as much as $85 million.
(WSJ, 2/20/02, p.A18)

2002 Feb 28, In Amman a bomb
killed 2 passersby and destroyed the car of a top anti-terrorism
official’s wife.
(WSJ, 3/1/02, p.A1)

2002 Mar 12, In Amman US VP
Cheney met with King Abdullah II, who expressed concern over any
possible strike against Iraq.
(SFC, 3/13/02, p.A11)

2002 Mar 21, King Abdullah II
visited Los Angeles on his way to the UN conference in Mexico.
(SSFC, 3/24/02, p.A15)

2002 Apr 4, The UN released
$995 million in compensation to Kuwait for Iraq’s 1990 invasion.
Most went to 1,058 individuals. Saudi Arabia received $82.6 million
and Jordan got $44.9.
(SFC, 4/5/02, p.A12)

2002 May 14, It was reported
that the Jordanian court had recently granted the country’s 1st
divorce under a new law.
(SFC, 5/15/02, p.A13)

2002 May 16, A military court
convicted Toujan Faisal, Jordan's 1st female lawmaker, of harming
the government's reputation in an open letter accusing the PM of
financial wrongdoing. She was sentenced to 1 ½ years in prison.
(SFC, 5/17/02, p.A20)

2002 Jul 1, Jordan reported
that 11 people, including a Palestinian-Jordanian who fled the
American bombing on Osama bin Laden's stronghold in Afghanistan,
have been detained in connection with an alleged plot to attack
American targets.
(AP, 7/1/02)

2002 Sep 1, Israel and Jordan
announced their largest joint project ever, an $800 million pipeline
intended to save the shrinking Dead Sea from environmental
devastation.
(AP, 9/1/02)

2002 Oct 28, In Jordan an
assassin pumped eight shots into Laurence Foley (62), an employee of
the US Agency for International Development, outside his home in the
first known killing of a Western envoy in Amman. 2 suspects were
arrested Dec 14. Abu Musab Zarqawi was suspected in the murder. In
2009 a military court convicted Al-Qaida militant Mohammed Ahmed
Youssef al-Jaghbeer in a retrial for the murder of Foley and
sentenced him to death.
(AP, 10/28/02)(WSJ, 12/16/02, p.A1)(WSJ, 2/10/04,
p.A8)(SFC, 7/14/09, p.A2)

2002 Nov 10, In Jordan police
clashed with a gang of alleged smugglers led by a Muslim extremist
who escaped from custody 10 days ago, and several people were
killed.
(AP, 11/10/02)

2002 Nov 24, In Maan,
Jordan, one person was killed and several wounded in shootings
between officers and crowds who attacked police patrols. The city is
home to conservative Bedouin tribesmen who are heavily armed and
oppose the government's pro-Western stance and Jordan's 1994 peace
treaty with Israel.
(AP, 11/27/02)

2002 Dec 14, Jordanian police
announced the arrest of two alleged al-Qaida members in the October
killing of American diplomat Laurence Foley.
(AP, 12/14/03)

2003 Apr 1, In Jordan
authorities said they had foiled two recent Iraqi terror plots,
including one by Iraqi diplomats allegedly planning to contaminate
water supplies to Jordanian and US troops on Jordan's desert border
with Iraq.
(AP, 4/1/03)

2003 Jun 17, Jordanians voted
for a new parliament, six years after the previous one was
dissolved. Allies of King Abdullah II won more than half of the
seats in Jordan's parliamentary elections. Jordan's parliament,
unlike many Arab legislatures, can block bills and dismiss a prime
minister and his Cabinet.
(AP, 6/17/03)(AP, 6/18/03)

2003 Jul 31, Two of ousted
Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's daughters and their nine children were
granted refuge in Jordan.
(AP, 7/31/04)

2003 Jul, Samih Battikhi,
former Jordanian intelligence chief, was sentenced to 4 years in
jail for corruption.
(Econ, 7/19/03, p.36)

2003 Oct 22, Jordan's king
asked a royal court minister to form a new government.
(AP, 10/22/03)

2003 Oct 25, In Amman, Jordan,
Faisal al-Fayez (51) was sworn in as the new PM along with 20
Cabinet members.
(AP, 10/26/03)

2003 Nov 19, A Jordanian truck
driver fired on a crowd of tourists crossing into Israel, killing
one and wounding four, in an attack near the Red Sea resort of
Eilat. The gunman was killed by Israeli security personnel.
(AP, 11/19/03)

2004 Mar 9, Groundbreaking
ceremonies were set for a research center on the Israeli-Jordan
border. The Bridging the Rift foundation, launched in 1999, planned
a $30 million environmental research center created with the
assistance of California's Stanford Univ.
(SFC, 2/28/04, p.A8)

2004 Apr 6, Jordan's military
court convicted 8 Muslim militants and sentenced them to death for
the 2002 killing of U.S. aid official Laurence Foley in a terror
conspiracy linked to al-Qaida.
(AP, 4/6/05)

2004 Apr 17, Sgt. Maj. Ahmed
Mustafa Ibrahim Ali, a Jordanian policeman, shot into a group of
U.N. police officers in a prison compound in Kosovo. Two Americans
and the Jordanian assailant were killed. 10 U.S. officers and an
Austrian were wounded in the gunbattle.
(AP, 4/18/04)(SSFC, 4/18/04, p.A14)

2004 Apr 20, In Jordan police
shot and killed three suspected terrorists who were believed to have
planned to detonate a bomb that would have flattened a large part of
the capital Amman.
(AP, 4/20/04)

2004 May 3, California Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger paid a hastily arranged visit to King Abdullah
II of Jordan following criticism from Arab-Americans that his
Mideast trip excluded a meeting with Arabs.
(AP, 5/3/04)

2004 May 15, In Jordan a
three-day World Economic Forum began. Augusto Lopez-Claros, chief
economist and director of the Global Competitiveness Program in the
World Economic Forum, said "oil will remain a source of instability
in the world, and perhaps in the short-term it is the most
significant factor."
(AP, 5/14/04)(AP, 5/15/04)

2004 Jun 16, A Jordanian
military court convicted 15 men, only one of whom was in custody,
for a terror conspiracy targeting U.S. and Israeli interests.
(AP, 6/16/04)

2004 Jul 26, A suicide car
bomber attacked near a U.S. base in the northern city of Mosul,
killing three Iraqis. Assassins gunned down a senior Interior
Ministry official and militants said they kidnapped two Jordanian
truck drivers in spiraling violence in Iraq.
(AP, 7/26/04)

2004 Jul 27, The chief
executive of a Jordanian firm working for the U.S. military in Iraq
said he was withdrawing from the country to secure the release of
two employees who have been kidnapped by militants.
(AP, 7/27/04)

2004 Oct 17, Jordan's military
prosecutor indicted Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, one of the most wanted
insurgents in Iraq, and 12 other alleged Muslim militants for an
alleged al-Qaida linked plot to attack the U.S. Embassy in Amman and
Jordanian government targets.
(AP, 10/17/04)

2004 Nov 3, Gunmen abducted a
Lebanese-American contractor who worked with the U.S. Army from his
Baghdad home. 4 Jordanian truck drivers were seized by assailants in
a separate kidnapping. Gunmen also killed an Oil Ministry official,
Hussein Ali al-Fattal, in a driveby shooting.
(AP, 11/3/04)

2004 Dec 27, Jordan's military
court on acquitted 13 Muslim militants, including three Saudi
fugitives, of conspiring to commit terror attacks against U.S.
targets in Jordan, but sentenced 11 of them to prison terms ranging
from six to 15 years for possessing explosives.
(AP, 12/27/04)

2004 The book “Forbidden Love"
by Norma Khouri was published as a true story about an honor killing
in Jordan. In the US it was published as “Honor Lost." Publishers in
the US and Australia later withdrew the book over allegations of its
truthfulness.
(SFC, 7/29/04, p.E2)

2004-2008 Jordan stripped some 2,700 Jordanians of
Palestinian origin of their citizenship during this period. Nearly
half the kingdom’s people were of Palestinian origin. The government
allegedly feared that if Palestinians were to become a majority, it
would disrupt the its delicate demographic balance.
(SFC, 2/2/10, p.A2)

2005 Jan 1, Jordan was forecast
for 5.1% annual GDP growth with a population at 5.8 million and GDP
per head at $2,010.
(Econ, 1/8/05, p.94)

2005 Jan 27, Jordan’s King
Abdullah II said he would introduce some limited democratic reforms
in his kingdom.
(AP, 1/27/05)

2005 Mar 18, King Abdullah II
of Jordan proposed a new peace strategy that drops traditional Arab
demands that Israel give up all land seized in the 1967 war and
offers the Jewish state normalized relations with Arab countries.
(AP, 3/19/05)

2005 Mar 19, Jordan, under
pressure from other Arab countries, accepted amendments to its
contentious proposal that was designed to revise Arab demands on
Israel in return for normal relations.
(AP, 3/19/05)

2005 Mar 20, In Jordan an
appeals court has overturned the conviction of a Jordanian found
guilty of financing Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi's insurgent group in Iraq.
The Court of Cassation said the Oct. 31 conviction of Bilal Mansur
al-Hiyari by the military State Security Court "fell short of
adequate justifications and causes."
(AP, 6/7/05)

2005 Mar 22, A Jordanian
military court convicted three Iraqis of smuggling rockets and hand
grenades into the kingdom in connection with a plot to attack U.S.
and Israeli targets.
(AP, 3/22/05)

2005 May 18, In Petra, Jordan,
Elie Wiesel, the Dalai Lama and other Nobel Prize laureates debated
solutions to challenges facing the modern world.
(AP, 5/18/05)

2005 May 22, Jordan, Israel and
the Palestinian Authority said they had agreed terms for a
feasibility study on transferring water from the Red Sea to the Dead
Sea, to save the world's lowest sea from vanishing.
(AP, 5/22/05)

2005 Jun 5, In Jordan 14 men
who earlier admitted plotting terrorism and sparking riots that
killed six people in southern Jordan testified that they were
tortured into confessing. The men then pleaded innocent before a
military court.
(AP, 6/5/05)

2005 Jun 24, In Jordan Saddam
Hussein's daughter said his family will publish next week a novel
written by the ousted Iraqi leader before the U.S.-led war.
(AP, 6/24/05)

2005 Jun 26, Jordan barred
publication of Saddam Hussein's fourth novel, titled "Get Out,
Damned One," due to political concerns. Saddam's eldest daughter,
Raghad, said her father finished the novel March 18, 2003, a day
before the U.S.-led war on Iraq began
(AP, 6/26/05)

2005 Jul 6, In Jordan over 170
leading Muslim scholars in Amman concluded an Int’l Islamic
Conference. They affirmed their authority and announced a mutual
recognition between Islam’s 8 main schools of legal interpretation:
4 Sunni, 2 Shia, the Ibadis of Oman and the small but prestigious
Zahiri school.
(Econ, 7/30/05, p.41)(www.asmasociety.org/home/)

2005 Aug 4, A Jordanian
prosecutor said Jordan has arrested 17 militants linked to al-Qaida
who were allegedly plotting to attack U.S. troops and Jordanian
intelligence agents.
(AP, 8/4/05)

2005 Aug 19, Attackers fired at
least three rockets from Jordan, with one narrowly missing a US Navy
ship docked at Aqaba and killing a Jordanian soldier. It was the
most serious militant attack on the Navy since the USS Cole was
bombed in 2000.
(AP, 8/19/05)

2005 Sep 11, In Jordan 12
Islamic militants screamed praise for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as
a Jordanian court jailed them for up to three years for plotting
terrorist strikes against the American and Israeli embassies.
(AP, 9/11/05)

2005 Sep 12, King Abdullah II
of Jordan paid Pope Benedict XVI a visit, saying he wanted to foster
an honest dialogue between the West and moderate Islam.
(AP, 9/12/05)

2005 Sep 16, Israeli PM Ariel
Sharon met with Jordan's King Abdullah II, their first talks in
months and a further sign of warming relations between the Jewish
state and the Arab world after Israel's Gaza withdrawal.
(AP, 9/16/05)

2005 Sep 21, The Kremlin issued
a letter from President Vladimir Putin to Jordanian King Abdullah
II, delivered personally by Moscow-backed Chechen President Alu
Alkhanov during his Middle Eastern tour. Putin said in the letter
that the situation in Chechnya was "steadily normalizing." Jordan
has a large Chechen Diaspora.
(AP, 9/21/05)

2005 Oct 22, In Haiti Muhammed
Khalaf (32), a UN peacekeeper from the Jordanian army. was
shot while on patrol near the volatile Cite Soleil slum of
Port-au-Prince. He died 2 days later.
(AP, 10/24/05)

2005 Nov 9, Suicide bombers In
Jordan carried out nearly simultaneous attacks on three U.S.-based
hotels in the capital of Amman in what appeared to be an al-Qaida
assault. 2 Americans were among at least 59 people killed and 115
wounded.
(AP, 11/10/05)(WSJ, 11/11/05, p.A1)

2005 Nov 10, After Jordanians
took to the streets to call for terror leader Abu Musab
al-Zarqawi to "burn in hell," an al-Qaida manifesto said
the Grand Hyatt, the Radisson SAS and the Days Inn, were used by
NATO as a rear base "from which the convoys of the crusaders and the
renegades head back and forth to the land of Iraq where Muslims are
killed and their blood is shed."
(AP, 11/10/05)

2005 Nov 11, Al-Qaida in Iraq
claimed that four Iraqis, including a husband and wife, carried out
the Nov 9 suicide bombings against three Amman hotels, and police
arrested 120 Jordanians and Iraqis in the hunt for anyone who might
have aided them.
(AP, 11/11/05)
2005 Nov 11, In Jordan
Moustapha Akkad, the Syrian-born producer of the "Halloween" horror
films, died from wounds sustained in the triple hotel bombings.
(AP, 11/11/05)

2005 Nov 13, Jordanian security
forces arrested Sajida Ubarak Atrous al-Rishawi (35), an Iraqi
woman, whose husband is suspected of blowing up one of three Amman
hotels. Al-Rishawi confessed on television to trying to blow herself
up with her husband in one of the three Nov. 9 suicide attacks in
Amman. This followed a tip off by an al-Qaida claim that a
husband-and-wife team participated in the attacks that killed 57
other people. Her husband was Ali Hussein Ali Shamari. The 2 other
bombers were identified as Rawad Jassem Mohammed Abed (23) and Safaa
Mohammed Ali (23). The bombers were from Fallujah.
(AP, 11/13/05)(SFC, 11/14/05, p.A3)

2005 Nov 15, Jordan introduced
strict security measures aimed at foreigners and said it was
drafting the country's first anti-terror specific legislation to
prevent further attacks like last week's the triple hotel bombings.
(AP, 11/15/05)
2005 Nov 15, A US Embassy
official said a 4th American has died from wounds sustained in last
week's triple hotel bombings in the Jordanian capital.
(AP, 11/16/05)

2005 Nov 24, Jordan's King
Abdullah II named Marouf al-Bakhit as the new prime minister hours
after the resignation of Adnan Badran. The king urged the new PM to
launch an all-out war against Islamic militancy in the wake of the
triple hotel bombings earlier this month that killed 63 people.
(AP, 11/24/05)(SFC, 11/25/05, p.A3)

2005 Nov 29, In Jordan more
than 370 members of the clan of al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab
al-Zarqawi joined his family in publishing a full-page letter in
Jordanian newspapers disowning him.
(AP, 11/29/05)

2005 Dec 18, Jordan's military
court sentenced al-Qaida in Iraq chief Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to death
for a second time for a failed suicide bombing along the Iraqi
border a year ago.
(AP, 12/18/05)

2005 Dec 20, Jordan named a
tough anti-terrorism general to replace the country's top
intelligence operative and approved a new Cabinet, part of a
political and security overhaul since last month's deadly hotel
bombings.
(AP, 12/20/05)

2005 Dec 24, Iraq’s governing
Shiite coalition called on Iraqis to accept results showing the
religious bloc leading in parliamentary elections and moved ahead
with efforts to form a “national unity" government. The electoral
commission said it would carry out a court decision to remove 90
people who were members of Saddam's Hussein's outlawed Baath party
from the tickets of political parties and coalitions that
participated in Dec. 15 elections. Militants released a video of a
Jordanian hostage, giving Jordan 3 days to cut ties with the Baghdad
government and free a female would-be suicide bomber involved in
November attacks in Amman.
(AP, 12/24/05)(AP, 12/24/06)

2006 Jan 8, Jordan's parliament
approved a law that prevents Amman handing over US citizens accused
of war crimes to the international criminal court (ICC).
(Reuters, 1/8/06)

2006 Jan 17, In Haiti gunmen
killed two Jordanian UN peacekeepers and seriously wounded a third
at a checkpoint in Cite Soleil, a slum in Port-au-Prince.
(AP, 1/17/06)

2006 Jan 31, Saudi Arabia and
Jordan pressed the Islamic militant group Hamas to moderate its
stand on Israel and to entice the defeated Fatah party into a deal
to share power.
(AP, 1/31/06)

2006 Feb 4, Jihad Momani, a
Jordanian tabloid editor, was arrested after his newspaper published
controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed, while an
investigation was launched into a second weekly newspaper that also
printed the cartoons. Momani, editor-in-chief of the weekly gossip
newspaper Shihane, was fired from his job the previous day.
(AFP, 2/4/06)

2006 Feb 15, A Jordanian
military court sentenced to death nine men, including al-Qaida in
Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, for a plot to carry out a chemical
attack against the kingdom. Al-Zarqawi and three others received the
death penalty in absentia.
(AP, 2/15/06)

2006 Mar 1, Inmates of Juweideh
prison released Jordan's top prison official along with a half-dozen
police officers they had taken hostage, ending a 14-hour riot in 3
prisons that broke out over the fate of two convicted al-Qaida
killers.
(AP, 3/2/06)

2006 Mar 8, A Jordanian
military court convicted 11 militants, including five fugitives, of
running a network that recruited and smuggled fighters into Iraq to
attack US forces.
(AP, 3/8/06)

2006 Mar 11, In Jordan 2
militants were executed by hanging for the killing in Amman of a US
diplomat.
(AP, 3/11/06)

2006 Mar 12, In Jordan 5
Islamic militants were convicted of plotting terrorist attacks on
Jordanian intelligence agents, foreign tourists and upscale hotels
and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 10 years to life.
(AP, 3/12/06)

2006 Mar 14, Jordan indicted
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, and 7 others
for the November bombings in Amman.
(SFC, 3/15/06, p.A3)

2006 Mar 31, Jordanian health
officials announced the kingdom's first human case of the bird flu
in a worker (31) believed to have contracted the deadly strain in
his home village in Egypt.
(AP, 3/31/06)

2006 Apr 3, In Jordan a bomb
exploded at a shop selling Iraqi scrap metal, killing two people and
wounding four.
(AP, 4/3/06)

2006 Apr 13, In Jordan security
forces stormed a prison to put down a riot after inmates claimed
they had taken two policemen hostage. One prisoner was killed in the
clashes while 15 police and 20 inmates were injured.
(AP, 4/13/06)

2006 Apr 18, Jordan accused
Hamas activists of smuggling missiles and other weapons into the
kingdom and said it was canceling a planned visit of the Palestinian
foreign minister, the second diplomatic snub for the Hamas-led
government in a week. Jordan later reported that it had detained
more than 20 Hamas activists for smuggling arms from Syria.
(AP, 4/18/06)(AP, 5/10/06)

2006 May 23, Ziad Khalaf Raja
al-Karbouly, an Iraqi government contractor, confessed on Jordanian
television to kidnapping and killing on the orders of al-Qaida in
Iraq before he was lured to Jordan and arrested.
(AP, 5/23/06)

2006 May 29, In Washington DC
Jordan's King Abdullah II met with President Bush and urged him to
pursue Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.
(AP, 5/29/06)

2006 Jun 11, Jordan arrested
four lawmakers who visited the family of slain terrorist leader Abu
Musab al-Zarqawi. They were charged with "instigating sectarian
strike" and "fueling national discord" and remained jailed, serving
15-day detention orders.
(AP, 6/18/06)

2006 Aug 17, Jordanian envoy
Ahmed al-Lozi has presented his credentials to the Iraqi government,
becoming the first fully accredited Arab ambassador in the country
since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
(AP, 8/18/06)

2006 Aug 25, In Jordan top
leaders of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party gave
their leader the go-ahead to begin forming a unity government with
the militant Hamas in an effort to end internal feuding and
international isolation.
(AP, 8/25/06)

2006 Aug 27, Jordan's
parliament endorsed the country's first anti-terrorism law despite
objections by some lawmakers that the bill curtails freedoms.
(AP, 8/27/06)

2006 Sep 4, Nabeel Ahmed Issa
al-Jaourah opened fire on tourists near a popular Roman ruins site
in Jordan's capital, killing Christopher Stokes, a British man, and
wounding five other foreigners and a local police officer. Police
overpowered and arrested the attacker at the scene. Al-Jaourah was
sentenced to death in December.
(AP, 9/4/06)(AP, 12/21/06)

2006 Sep 13, In Jordan a
military court convicted 10 suspected militants in two separate
terrorism cases that included conspiracies to kill Americans.
Lawmakers approved a measure that would only allow a state-appointed
council to issue religious edicts, a move aimed at denying Islamic
hard-liners a forum for disseminating extremist ideology. The
measure will become law with the expected approval of the upper
house of Parliament and the king.
(AP, 9/13/06)(AP, 9/14/06)

2006 Sep 21, Jordan sentenced 7
people to death for triple hotel bombings that killed 60 people in
Amman last November. Sajida al-Rishawi (35), an Iraqi woman, was
sentenced to death. 6 others were sentenced to death in absentia.
(AP, 9/21/06)

2006 Sep 27, Jordan's military
court convicted five men of plotting attacks against US troops in
Iraq, including a cousin of slain al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab
al-Zarqawi.
(AP, 9/27/06)

2006 Oct 30, In Amman, Jordan,
a delegation of Iraq lawmakers met with a newly formed group of
Iraqi political activists and agreed to hold a national
reconciliation conference next month.
(AP, 10/3o/06)

2006 Nov 11, In Haiti 2 UN
peacekeepers from Jordan were shot to death in Port-au-Prince after
coming under attack by gunmen. Jordan counted about 1,500 troops in
the force of some 8,800 peacekeepers. Nine peacekeepers have been
killed since the force arrived in June 2004.
(AP, 11/11/06)

2006 Nov 28, Jordan's King
Abdullah II called for renewed efforts to settle the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a speech, but he warned that his
country would not accept a deal that causes an influx of
Palestinians.
(AP, 11/28/06)

2006 Nov 29, Iraqi lawmakers
and Cabinet ministers loyal to anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr
said they have carried out their threat to suspend participation in
Parliament and the government to protest PM Nouri al-Maliki's summit
with US Pres. George W. Bush in Jordan. 13 insurgents and 15
citizens were killed in Iraq, including two females who were caught
up in a coalition raid north of the capital. A US army soldier died
from wounds suffered in Anbar province.
(AP, 11/29/06)

2006 Nov 30, President Bush in
Jordan said the US will speed a turnover of security responsibility
to Iraqi forces but assured PM Nouri al-Maliki that Washington is
not looking for a "graceful exit" from a war well into its fourth
violent year. Today's meetings were supposed to be Bush's second set
of strategy sessions in Amman. But the first meeting between Bush
and al-Maliki, a day earlier along with Jordan's king, was scrubbed.
PM Nouri al-Maliki called on lawmakers and Cabinet ministers loyal
to an anti-American cleric to end their boycott of the government in
response to his summit with President Bush. An American soldier was
killed during combat in Baghdad.
(AP, 11/30/06)(AP, 12/1/06)

2006 Dec 7, A Jordanian
military court convicted three Syrians and one Iraqi and sentenced
them to death for firing rockets at two US warships in August 2005.
(AP, 12/7/06)

2006 Dec 13, Jordanian and
Iraqi interior ministers and their security officials met to
coordinate plans and share intelligence on terrorist groups such as
al-Qaida, which has staged devastating attacks in both states.
(AP, 12/13/06)

2006 Dec 19, Israeli Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert made a surprise visit to Jordan for talks with
King Abdullah II on ways to revive Mideast peacemaking. A wanted
Palestinian militant was killed and two others were arrested by
Israeli forces in the West Bank city of Nablus. Gunbattles raged in
the streets of Gaza City between the Hamas and Fatah movements,
killing at least four people in factional fighting that shredded a
shaky truce. At least 18 people were wounded, including five
children caught in the crossfire.
(AP, 12/19/06)

2006 Dec 26, Ayham al-Samaraie,
a former minister of electricity with dual US and Iraqi citizenship,
arrived in Jordan on a US plane. Al-Samaraie, who escaped from a
Baghdad prison this month, was serving time for corruption when he
escaped mid-December.
(AP, 12/26/06)

2007 Jan 9, Jordanian police
killed one suspected al-Qaida member and detained a second in a
crackdown that foiled a terrorist plot against Jordan.
(AP, 1/9/07)

2007 Jan 19, Jordan's King
Abdullah II told an Israeli newspaper that his country wants its own
nuclear program for peaceful purposes.
(AP, 1/19/07)

2007 Jan 23, A Jordanian man
fatally shot his 17-year-old daughter whom he suspected of having
sex despite a medical exam that proved her chastity. The man
surrendered to police hours after the killing, saying he had done it
for family honor. On average, about 20 women in the country are
killed by their relatives in such cases each year.
(AP, 1/25/07)

2007 Feb 13, Jordan's King
Abdullah II and Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a
stronger international push for lasting Mideast peace and urged for
a diplomatic solution to Iran's nuclear standoff.
(AP, 2/13/07)

2007 Mar 5, John Holmes, the
new UN humanitarian chief, said the UN plans to open an office in
Jordan to deal with the increasingly serious humanitarian problems
posed by 1.8 million Iraqis who have fled to neighboring countries
and a similar number who have fled their homes and are still inside
Iraq.
(AP, 3/6/07)

2007 Mar 15, Jordan's military
court sentenced to death four Iraqi al-Qaida militants charged with
terror attacks on Jordanians in Iraq. Of the four, only one is in
custody while the other three remain at large and were tried in
absentia.
(AP, 3/15/07)

2007 Apr 2, Jordan's military
court convicted six alleged militants of planning suicide attacks
against Jordan's main international airport and against hotels
hosting Israeli and American tourists.
(AP, 4/2/07)

2007 Apr 19, Israeli Knesset
speaker Dalia Yitzik arrived in Jordan, the second Israeli official
to visit the Arab kingdom this week for talks on ways to revive
Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.
(AP, 4/19/07)

2007 May 18, Jordan's King
Abdullah II made a new attempt to rally Mideast peace efforts as he
hosted politicians and business leaders at the World Economic Forum.
Politicians attending the forum warned of a bleak future for the
Mideast if its explosive tensions are not resolved.
(AP, 5/18/07)

2007 Jun 9, Jordanian police
exchanged gunfire with a small group of armed men suspected of
stealing electricity and water in a town near the Israeli border.
One of the gunmen was killed and several were arrested.
(AP, 6/9/07)

2007 Jun 26, In Jordan a
70-year-old woman who killed her daughter with an ax for giving
birth to an illegitimate child and a man who shot a relative dead
were each sentenced to prison in separate "honor crime"
prosecutions.
(AP, 6/26/07)

2007 Jun, The World Monuments
Fund added the Jordan River Valley to its list of 100 most
endangered sites. Israel, Jordan and Syria diverted over 90% of the
Jordan River water annually for drinking and irrigation, reducing
flow to the Dead Sea.
(SSFC, 8/12/07, p.A15)

2007 Jul 5, Israeli troops
crossed into the Gaza Strip and engaged Hamas militants in a fierce
gunbattle that drew in Israeli aircraft, tanks and bulldozers. 11
militants were killed. A cameraman for Hamas TV, who lay wounded on
the ground, came under more fire during a clash with Israeli troops.
The shooting was captured on film and broadcast on al-Jazeera
satellite television. Imad Ghanem had to have both legs amputated as
a result of his injuries. Israel repatriated 4 Jordanian
infiltrators who were serving life sentences in Israeli prisons for
killing Israeli soldiers.
(AP, 7/5/07)(AP, 7/6/07)(AP, 7/7/07)

2007 Jul 7, A global poll
picked the Great Wall of China, Rome's Colosseum, India's Taj Mahal,
Peru’s Macchu Picchu, Jordan’s Petra, Brazil's Statue of Christ
Redeemer and Mexico's Chichen Itza pyramid as the new seven wonders
of the world. The campaign to name the new wonders was launched in
1999 by the Swiss adventurer Bernard Weber.
(AP, 7/8/07)

2007 Jul 11, Jordan's military
court convicted and sentenced two militants to prison with hard
labor for plotting to attack Americans living in the kingdom.
(AP, 7/11/07)

2007 Jul 25, The foreign
ministers of Egypt and Jordan, delegated by the 22-member Arab
League, began a historic visit to Israel to formally present an Arab
peace plan, saying they were extending "a hand of peace" on behalf
of the region.
(AP, 7/25/07)(Econ, 7/28/07, p.48)

2007 Jul 26, Jordan pleaded for
international help to deal with hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who
have fled here to avoid the violence at home, saying they cost the
kingdom $1 billion a year in basic services.
(AP, 7/26/07)

2007 Jul 31, Pro-government and
independent candidates swept local elections in Jordan, including
the first-ever vote for city mayors. The Islamist main opposition
group withdrew from Jordan's first mayoral elections and accused the
government of fraud.
(AP, 7/31/07)(AP, 8/2/07)

2007 Aug 24, In Jordan former
Iraqi President Abdel-Rahman Aref (91), overthrown more than 35
years ago in a coup that brought Saddam Hussein's Baath party to
power, died in Amman.
(AP, 8/24/07)

2007 Sep 3, President Nicolas
Sarkozy said France and Jordan want to work "hand-in-hand" to help
resolve crises in the Middle East, following talks with King
Abdullah II.
(AP, 9/3/07)

2007 Sep 16, In Jordan the US
Embassy said the US has signed an accord with Jordan on the
sidelines of a nuclear energy summit in Vienna, Austria, aimed at
supporting the peaceful development of the kingdom's nascent nuclear
program.
(AP, 9/16/07)

2007 Nov 5, Jordan's military
court convicted Muammar Ahmed Yousef al-Jaghbeer, an al-Qaida
militant of involvement in the deadly suicide car bombing of the
Jordanian Embassy in Iraq in 2003 and sentenced him to death.
(AP, 11/5/07)

2007 Nov 20, Jordan held
elections. Supporters of King Abdullah II, a close US ally, handily
defeated the country's Islamist opposition in parliamentary
elections, dropping their number of parliament seats by nearly
two-thirds.
(AP, 11/21/07)

2008 Jan 13, King Abdullah II
of Jordan arrived on a three-day official visit to Morocco. Talks
between King Abdullah II and Morocco's King Mohammed VI focused on
revitalizing trade between Amman and Rabat.
(AFP, 1/13/08)

2008 Jan 26, In northern Jordan
a tour bus collided with a water tanker, killing at least 21 people
with 33 Injured.
(AP, 1/27/08)
2008 Jan 26, George Habash
(81), former PLO leader, died in Jordan. His radical PLO faction
gained notoriety after the simultaneous hijackings of four Western
airliners in 1970 and the seizure of an Air France flight to
Entebbe, Uganda.
(AP, 1/26/08)

2008 Mar 28, Jordan, Iraq and
Yemen announced at the last minute that their top leaders will not
attend this weekend's Arab summit in Damascus.
(AP, 3/28/08)

2008 May 17, Somali pirates
hijacked a Jordanian-flagged ship, called the Victoria, in the
latest in a string of attacks off the lawless coast of Somalia.
Islamic insurgents in Somalia seized a major agricultural center
overnight in Jilib. 2 militia fighters were killed. The UAE-owned
ship was released on May 23.
(AP, 5/17/08)(AP, 5/18/08)(AP, 5/23/08)

2008 May 30, Jordan and France
signed an agreement to help the Arab kingdom develop its nuclear
energy program.
(AP, 5/30/08)

2008 Jul 17, In Amman, Jordan,
a gunman shot and wounded six people near a Roman amphitheater. He
shot himself in the head as he was chased by police, and was in
critical condition. A police official identified the assailant as
Thaer al-Weheidi (19), a resident of Baqaa camp, the largest of 11
Palestinian refugee settlements in Jordan. Al-Weheidi died on July
22.
(AP, 7/17/08)(AP, 7/22/08)

2008 Aug 4, A Jordanian
military court sentenced 12 men to up to five years in jail for
planning to join Iraq's insurgency and carry out attacks against US
and Iraqi forces. The five men who received the longest jail terms
were at large and tried in absentia.
(AP, 8/4/08)

2008 Oct 8, Human Rights Watch,
a New York-based human rights group, accused Jordan's security
services of carrying out widespread torture in the country's jails.
The torture allegations came from 66 out of 110 prisoners
interviewed randomly in seven of Jordan's main prisons in 2007 and
2008.
(AP, 10/8/08)

2008 Oct 9, Two American
journalists, Holli Chmela (27) and Taylor Luck (23), who went
missing during a vacation in Lebanon eight days ago were released in
Syria and returned to Jordan. The next day they said they had been
"kidnapped" by their taxi driver and taken into Syria, where they
were held in custody for a week before being released.
(AP, 10/9/08)(AP, 10/10/08)

2008 Oct 21, Jordanian police
arrested a local writer for incorporating verses of the Quran, the
Muslim holy book, into his love poetry. Islam Samhan, published his
collection of poems, "Grace like a Shadow," without the approval of
the Jordanian government, and authorities said it insults the holy
book.
(AP, 10/21/08)

2008 Nov 16, Israeli leaders
made a secret journey to neighboring Jordan, listening to pleas from
King Abdullah II to avert a large-scale military operation in the
Gaza Strip. An Israeli airstrike killed 4 Palestinian militants as
they were firing mortars at Israel from the Gaza Strip, just hours
after another group of militants struck Israel in a separate rocket
attack.
(AP, 11/16/08)(AP, 11/20/08)

2009 Apr 12, Jordanian
authorities said a man has confessed to stabbing to death his
pregnant sister (28) and mutilating her body to protect the family
honor. The incident, the ninth such case this year and the second
this month, took place in the village of Basira, in the conservative
Bedouin heartland of southern Jordan.
(AP, 4/12/09)

2009 Apr 24, Jordan's king
recorded an interview urging President Barack Obama to take a more
forceful role in the peace process between Israelis and
Palestinians, warning of a new Mideast war if there is no
significant progress in the next 18 months.
(AP, 4/26/09)

2009 May 8, Pope Benedict XVI
arrived in Jordan and expressed deep respect for Islam. He said he
hopes the Catholic Church can play a role in Mideast peace as he
began his first trip to the region, where he hopes to improve frayed
ties with Muslims.
(AP, 5/8/09)

2009 May 10, In Jordan Pope
Benedict XVI urged Middle East Christians to persevere in their
faith despite hardships threatening their ancient communities,
addressing a crowd of 20,000 who filled a sports stadium where he
celebrated the first open-air Mass of his pilgrimage.
(AP, 5/10/09)

2009 May 14, Jordan's king
pressed Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to immediately commit to the
establishment of a Palestinian state, as he pursues a sweeping
resolution of the Muslim world's conflicts with Israel.
(AP, 5/14/09)

2009 May 17, Jordan and Royal
Dutch Shell PLC signed a concessionary agreement to explore for oil
in the country's vast oil shale deposits.
(AP, 5/17/09)

2009 May 21, Fathi al-Jahmi,
Libyan dissident and human rights activist repeatedly imprisoned in
Libya for defying the country's leader Moammar Gadhafi, died after
being released earlier this month to Jordan. He never regained
consciousness after having slipped into a coma following a stroke on
May 4 in a Libyan jail. He was sentenced to death in 2006 for
failing to recognize Gadhafi's authority, and remained behind bars
until his release to Jordan.
(AP, 5/22/09)

2009 May 26, A leading rights
group urged Jordan to stop the detentions of thousands without trial
each year and annul a 55-year-old law that allows people to be held
without due process.
(AP, 5/26/09)

2009 Oct 9, In Haiti 11 UN
peacekeepers were killed when a CASA C-212 surveillance flight
slammed into a mountain. The victims were Uruguayan and Jordanian
troops serving with the 9,000-strong UN peacekeeping force that has
been in Haiti since 2004.
(AP, 10/10/09)

2009 Oct 25, Energy giant BP
signed a deal with Jordan to explore for natural gas reserves in the
Risheh field near the border with Iraq in an investment that could
reach billions of dollars.
(AFP, 10/25/09)

2009 Nov 14, A Jordanian
citizen died after being beaten by police, the second time this
week, casting a rare spotlight on the nation's US-trained security
forces, that may also have worked as proxy jailers for the CIA.
Fakhri Kreishan (47) died two days after slipping into a coma caused
by a severe beating to the head due to a clash between police and
residents in the southern city of Maan. Sadem al-Saud (20) died Nov
7, three weeks after he was put into a coma by a beating
administered during an interrogation in an Amman police station.
(AP, 11/15/09)

2009 Dec 30, In Afghanistan
bombings killed 14 people, including 8 Americans and an Afghan in a
suicide attack at a CIA base at the edge of Khost city, and 4
Canadian soldiers and a journalist by a roadside bomb in the
southern Kandahar province. Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi (32), a
physician from Jordan, was an Al-Qaida triple agent. 7 CIA employees
and a Jordanian intelligence officer were among the victims. An
airstrike by international forces in Helmand province killed 7
civilians, 2 Taliban and wounded another civilian. The attack took
place after an international patrol came under fire from insurgents
and called for air support. Suspected Taliban militants kidnapped 2
French journalists working for France's public television and 3
Afghan companions in Kapisa province.
(AP, 12/31/09)(AFP, 12/31/09)(AP, 1/1/10)(AP,
1/5/10)

2010 Jan 9, Humam Khalil Abu
Mulal al-Balawi, the Jordanian doctor who killed 7 CIA employees in
a suicide attack in Afghanistan, said in video clips broadcast
posthumously today that all jihadists must attack US targets to
avenge the death of Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud.
Speaking in Arabic in the video shown on al-Jazeera, the Arabic
network, and Aaj, a Pakistani channel, al-Balawi noted that the
Pakistani Taliban had given shelter to "emigrants" — Muslim fighters
from abroad.
(AP, 1/9/10)

2010 Jan 14, In Jordan there
was an attack on a convoy of Israeli diplomats heading home for the
weekend. It was the first roadside bombing in Jordan and exposed a
security gap for Israeli diplomats. On Jan 31 a Jordanian security
official said authorities have arrested dozens of Muslim militants
in connection with the failed bomb attack.
(AP, 1/31/10)

2010 Jan 31, A Jordanian
security official said more than 40 alleged Islamist extremists have
been arrested in Jordan since a Jordanian blew himself up in
Afghanistan in December, killing seven CIA agents.
(AFP, 1/31/10)

2010 Apr 30, Jordanian doctor
Humam Khalili Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, who killed seven CIA employees in
a suicide attack in Afghanistan late last year, called on Muslims to
wage jihad and become martyrs in a posthumous message posted on
extremist websites.
(AP, 4/30/10)

2010 May 3, A team of Israeli,
Jordanian and Palestinian environmental scientists said large
stretches of the biblical Jordan River could dry up by 2011. In
1847, a US Naval officer visiting the area reported on the
"deafening roar of the tumultuous waters."
(AP, 5/4/10)

2010 May 11, In Jordan John
Zinn (33), president and chief executive officer of South
Carolina-based Defense Venture Group, died. A top security official
said an investigation showed that Zinn was "highly intoxicated." He
was in Amman for a military exhibition. Security officials said he
fell to his death from the second floor of a deserted building in
Amman. Preliminary reports show no indication of foul play or
attempted suicide.
(AP, 5/13/10)

2010 Aug 2, A string of
rockets was fired toward the Israeli resort city Eilat, and one hit
in neighboring Jordan, killing one person and wounding four. On Aug
3 Jordan said it has evidence that the rocket attack originated from
neighboring Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
(AP, 8/2/10)(AP, 8/3/10)

2010 Nov 9, Jordanians lined up
to cast ballots for a new parliament in a vote that was dominated by
anger at Israel over stalled peace talks and widespread frustration
over an economic crisis. Loyalists of King Abdullah II won a
majority of seats in the next parliament. The Islamist opposition
boycotted the elections in protest of electoral laws they said were
unfair. Votes in the capital carried only a quarter of the weight as
ones cast in the hinterlands.
(AP, 11/9/10)(AP, 11/10/10)(Econ, 11/6/10, p.60)

2010 Nov 14, Sri Lanka
officials said they are probing allegations that one of its
nationals, a housemaid identified as D.M. Chandima employed in
Jordan, was forced to swallow nails, in the third case involving
alleged torture in three months.
(AFP, 11/14/10)

2010 Nov 19, In Iraq 4
Jordanians of Palestinian origin from Zarqa were killed while
fighting American troops. The men were all in their 20s and 30s and
with the exception of one, had served jail terms in Jordan for
plotting anti-American terror attacks.
(AP, 12/22/10)

2010 Dec 7, Jordanian computer
engineer Mohammed Rateb Qteishat (33) was killed by Iraqi forces in
Mosul. He was an al-Qaida operative fighting American forces in
Iraq. In 2006, he was sentenced to death in absentia in his native
Jordan for plotting attacks on Americans in Jordan and attempting to
blow up hotels in Amman.
(AP, 12/22/10)

2010 Dec 9, Jordan appointed a
woman, Ihsan Barakat (46), as chief district attorney of the
country's capital, marking the first time a woman has held a top
prosecutor's post in the pro-American Arab kingdom.
(AP, 12/9/10)

2010 Dec 10, In Jordan fans of
rival soccer teams clashed after a match, injuring 250 people in
violence that pointed to the deep divisions between the nation's
native Bedouin clans and its Palestinians.
(AP, 12/11/10)

2010 Jordan’s population
numbered about 6 million. Half of the people were of Palestinian
origin.
(SFC, 2/2/10, p.A2)

2011 Jan 18, Jordan’s powerful
Islamist opposition said Jordanians should be able to elect their
prime minister and other government officials rather than having
them appointed in a rare challenge to Jordan's political system.
(AP, 1/18/11)

2011 Jan 21, Jordan's
opposition vowed continual protests over price increases and
inflation until the resignation of PM Samir Rifai and his
government. Thousands of Jordanians calling for their government to
step down marched in several cities in an outpouring of anger over
economic hardship and a lack of democratic reforms in the
constitutional monarchy.
(AP, 1/21/11)

2011 Jan 28, In Jordan the
Muslim Brotherhood called for fresh demonstrations to press its
demand for political and economic reforms. Thousands of Jordanians
demonstrated peacefully in Amman and other cities after weekly
prayers to press for political and economic reform, and demanding
that the government resign.
(AP, 1/28/11)(AFP, 1/28/11)

2011 Jan 31, Jordan's King
Abdullah II fired his government in the face of smaller street
protests, named an ex-prime minister to form a new Cabinet and
ordered him to launch political reforms. King Abdullah II named
Marouf Bakhit (64), a career soldier and former prime minister,
after sacking the government of Samir Rifai (43).
(AP, 2/1/11)(AFP, 2/2/11)(Econ, 2/5/11, p.32)

2011 Feb 2, Jordan's new
premier, Maruf Bakhit, began consultations on forming a government
charged with passing reforms and meeting the demands of popular
protests, despite objections from the Islamist opposition.
(AFP, 2/3/11)

2011 Feb 3, Jordan's King
Abdullah II widened his political outreach and met with the Muslim
Brotherhood for the first time in nearly a decade.
(SFC, 2/4/11, p.A2)

2011 Feb 5, Unknown saboteurs
attacked an Egyptian pipeline supplying gas to Jordan, forcing
authorities to switch off gas supply from a twin pipeline to Israel.
Egypt supplies about 40 percent of Israel's natural gas. The attack
came after Israel expressed concern that its natural gas supplies
from Egypt could be threatened if a new regime takes power in Cairo.
(AFP, 2/5/11)

2011 Feb 6, Jordan's Islamist
opposition said it has rejected an offer to join a new government
led by PM Marruf Bakhit and tasked with pushing through reforms.
(AFP, 2/6/11)

2011 Feb 9, Jordan’s King
Abdullah II swore in a new 27-member Cabinet following protests
demanding jobs, reduced prices for food and fuel and changes to an
election law giving government loyalists more seats in the national
Assembly.
(SFC, 2/10/11, p.A2)

2011 Feb 11, Hundreds of
Jordanians took to the streets in rival protests, one calling for
the ouster of their new prime minister and the other to support
toppling Egypt's embattled leader.
(AP, 2/11/11)

2011 Feb 15, Jordan's interior
minister said protest marches will no longer need government
permission, bowing to growing pressure to allow wider freedoms.
Protesters would still have to inform authorities of any gathering
two days in advance to "ensure public safety" and that they would
have to observe public order.
(AP, 2/15/11)

2011 Feb 18, In Jordan clashes
broke out in Amman between government supporters and opponents at a
protest calling for more freedom and lower food prices, injuring
eight.
(AP, 2/18/11)

2011 Mar 4, In Jordan political
opponents amplified their calls for the new PM Marouf al-Bakhit to
resign and demanded to be brought into a unity government to usher
in swift reforms to open up the kingdom's politics. Al-Bakhit was
accused of rigging past elections during a previous term as prime
minister from 2005-2007.
(AP, 3/4/11)

2011 Mar 11, Jordanians
demanding democratic reforms protested in the capital for the 10th
street week following Muslim prayers, defying an edict by the
kingdom's religious leaders not to demonstrate.
(AP, 3/11/11)

2011 Mar 12, Thousands of
Jordanians took to the streets of the capital to voice allegiance to
their king in the biggest protest there in weeks.
(AP, 3/12/11)

2011 Mar 18, In Jordan hundreds
of protesters calling for reforms demonstrated peacefully, rejecting
the beginning of a national dialogue as insufficient.
(AP, 3/18/11)

2011 Mar 24, Hundreds of
Jordanians set up a protest camp in a main square in the capital to
press demands for the ouster of the prime minister and wider public
freedoms. About 35 people were hurt in one of the most violent
incidents in three months of demonstrations.
(AP, 3/24/11)

2011 Mar 25, In Jordan
pro-government supporters attacked a gathering of protesters in
central Amman demanding the dissolution of parliament and the firing
of the country's prime minister, pelting them with stones and
injuring six people.
(AP, 3/25/11)

2011 Mar 26, Jordan's Islamist
opposition, leftists and trade unions demanded the ouster of PM
Maaruf Bakhit, who they blame for violence that has killed one
person and injured 130. The resilient opposition protest movement
demanded political reforms and new elections. Some 7 thousand
supporters of King Abdullah II took to the streets of Amman to
express their loyalty.
(AFP, 3/26/11)(AP, 3/26/11)(SSFC, 3/27/11, p.A2)

2011 Apr 1, Jordanian police
moved in to separate hundreds of government supporters and
pro-reform activists who were holding rival rallies outside the
municipal offices in Amman.
(AP, 4/1/11)

2011 Apr 7, In Jordan Mohammed
Abdul-Karim (45) set himself on fire outside the prime minister’s
office and was in critical condition with 3rd degree burns to his
face and body. On April 20 a forensics official said
Abdul-Karim has died of his wounds.
(SFC, 4/8/11, p.A2)(AP, 4/20/11)

2011 Apr 11, Jordan released
four jailed members of a radical Islamist group that had threatened
to stage a mass demonstration over their detentions.
(AP, 4/12/11)

2011 Apr 15, In Jordan hundreds
of protesting Islamic Salafi hard-liners clashed with supporters of
King Abdullah II, wounding dozens, in the latest move by the
extremist movement to assert itself amid the country's wave of
anti-government demonstrations. 70 Islamic hardliners were soon
arrested for suspected armed attacks that left 83 policemen wounded.
Ayman al-Balawi (38), the brother of an al-Qaida triple agent who
blew himself up in a CIA outpost in Afghanistan in Dec, 2009, was
detained in a sweep along with 102 other members of the
ultraconservative Muslim Salafi sect.
(AP, 4/15/11)(AP, 4/16/11)(AP, 4/19/11)

2011 May 10, The Gulf
Co-operation Council (Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia,
UAE) said it welcomed Jordan’s request to join the 6-member group.
Jordan had first applied for membership in the mid-1980s. The GCC
said it would encourage Morocco to also join.
(Econ, 5/21/11,
p.54)(http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=13586238)

2011 May 13, In Jordan heeding
a call from Palestinian Facebook organizers, several hundred
Jordanians took to the streets of the capital demanding a sovereign
Palestinian state and that refugees be given the right to return
home.
(AP, 5/13/11)

2011 May 17, Pres. Obama met
with Jordan’s King Abdullah II. They discussed the sweeping
political and social changes in the Middle East.
(SFC, 5/18/11, p.A4)

2011 Jun 3, In Jordan
pro-reform activists took to the streets, stepping up their calls
for PM Marouf al-Bakhit to resign because they say he has failed to
fight corruption.
(AP, 6/3/11)

2011 Jun 12, Jordan’s King
Abdullah II, in response to demonstrations in favor of reform,
agreed that he will soon allow the election of Cabinets, rather than
maintaining the current policy of appointing the members.
(AP, 6/12/11)

2011 Jun 27, Jordanian MPs
failed to impeach PM Maaruf Bakhit for his alleged role in a
suspected graft case about a multi-million-dollar deal that his
government singed with a British-based company to build a casino,
between 2005 and 2007 when he first served as premier.
(AFP, 7/1/11)

2011 Jun, A petition campaign
against a Jordanian garment maker was begun by US labor activists
after a Bangladeshi worker told police that her Sri Lankan manager,
Anil Santha, had raped her three times since March. This prompted
several US retailers to stop placing orders with the Classic Fashion
factory.
(AP, 9/9/11)

2011 Jul 1, In Jordan about
2,000 people demonstrated across the country to demand the
dissolution of the "parliament of shame," over a suspected
corruption case involving a gambling.
(AFP, 7/1/11)

2011 Jul 2, Jordan’s King
Abdullah II issued a decree approving the first reshuffle of the
cabinet, which was formed in February, bringing in nine newcomers,
and changing the portfolios of two ministers.
(AFP, 7/2/11)

2011 Jul 8, Hundreds of
pro-reform Jordanians demonstrated in Amman and other cities,
demanding the resignation of the government nearly a week after
Prime Minister Maaruf Bakhit reshuffled his cabinet.
(AFP, 7/8/11)

2011 Jul 15, In Jordan
government supporters attacked pro-reform protesters to stop them
from gathering in a main square in the capital. At least 17 people,
including journalists and policemen, were injured when police tried
to stop clashes between pro-reform demonstrators and government
supporters in central Amman.
(AP, 7/15/11)(AFP, 7/16/11)

2011 Jul 16, In Jordan 4
policemen suspected of attacking journalists at a demonstration in
the Amman were arrested.
(AFP, 7/16/11)

2011 Jul 22, More than
Jordanian 300 youths demonstrated in Amman to condemn government
"oppression" and "terrorizing" of the media, a week after several
journalists were beaten up as they covered a pro-reform sit-in.
(AFP, 7/22/11)

2011 Jul 28, In Jordan a
military court convicted the Palestinian-born mentor of al-Qaida in
Iraq's slain leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi on terrorism charges and
sentenced him to five years in prison. Isam Mohammed Taher
al-Barqawi, better known as Sheik Abu-Mohammed al-Maqdisi, was found
guilty of "plotting terrorism" and recruiting militants in Jordan to
join the Taliban in Afghanistan. Three other Jordanian-Palestinians,
including a fugitive who was tried in absentia, were found guilty of
the same charges.
(AP, 7/28/11)

2011 Jul 29, In Jordan some
3,000 Muslim Brotherhood activists in Amman took an oath to continue
peaceful protests until their demands for political reform are met.
(SFC, 7/30/11, p.A2)

2011 Aug 13, Jordan's Popular
Democratic Unity party said at least 8 of its members were wounded
in the southern city of Karak during a protest demanding government
reforms.
(AP, 8/12/11)

2011 Aug 14, In Jordan a reform
committee presented constitutional changes to King Abdullah II, but
activists said the changes do not go far enough. The 42 proposed
changes included limiting the jurisdiction of military courts to
only terrorism and espionage cases.
(AP, 8/14/11)

2011 Sep 3, A Jordanian father
shot and killed his 24-year-old widowed daughter in hospital after
she gave birth to twins.
(AFP, 9/4/11)

2011 Oct 1, In Jordan ex-MP
Leith Shbeilat, an outspoken opposition figure and former member of
parliament, was pelted with stones while making a speech criticizing
the slow pace of reform in the kingdom.
(AFP, 10/2/11)

2011 Oct 17, In Jordan PM
Marouf al-Bakhit (64) resigned after a majority of 70 out of 120
parliamentarians called for his ouster. Jordan's King Abdullah II
designated Awn al-Khasawneh (61), a well known international judge,
as the new prime minister.
(AP, 10/17/11)

2011 Oct 22, Jordan’s King
Abdullah II urged the World Economic Forum meeting in Amman to
create new strategies for the Arab region, insisting political
change is needed for economic reforms.
(AFP, 10/22/11)

2011 Oct 24, Jordan's King
Abdullah II swore in a new 30-strong cabinet led by PM Awn
Khasawneh, an international judge tasked with bringing in political
reform.
(AFP, 10/24/11)

2011 Oct 26, Jordan’s King
Abdullah II said he will give lawmakers a say in appointing the
Cabinet, beginning next year. The change will allow the 120-seat
parliament to choose a prime minister, whom the king can either
appoint or veto.
(SFC, 10/27/11, p.A2)
2011 Oct 26, A Jordanian man
(46) was sentenced to death for raping and impregnating his daughter
then cutting her open to remove the fetus and letting her bleed to
death. The man had been charged with the murder of the 19-year-old
in May 2010 and confessed to having had sex with his daughter for
five years.
(AFP, 10/28/11)

2011 Nov 14, Jordan's King
Abdullah II said Syria’s Pres. Assad should step down for the good
of his country, the first Arab leader to publicly make such a call.
(AP, 11/15/11)

2011 Nov 16, In Jordan Najm
Zoubi (20) hung himself after he and two others were arrested for
questioning in a case whose details remain unknown. Relatives,
suspecting that policemen beat Zoubi to death, torched the state
building and four cars in the northern town of Ramtha.
(AP, 11/17/11)

2011 Nov 21, Jordan's King
Abdullah II paid a rare visit to the West Bank to show support for
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
(AP, 11/21/11)

2011 Nov 24, A Jordanian
prosecutor said the country's military court has freed 22 suspected
Islamists on bail as a goodwill gesture. It brings up the total
number of freed Salafis to 37. They were part of 103 Salafis on
trial on charges of terrorism and stabbing policemen with swords
during an April protest.
(AP, 11/24/11)

2011 Dec 11, Syrian troops
battled army defectors in clashes that set several military vehicles
ablaze. The fighting and other violence around the nation killed at
least eight people. Opposition activists called for a general strike
starting today in a bid to squeeze the government and push it to
stop its bloody crackdown. About a dozen Syrians attacked their
embassy in Jordan’s capital, Amman, injuring at least two diplomats
and four other consulate employees. Another activist group, called
the Local Coordination Committees, put today’s death toll at 18.
(AP, 12/11/11)

2012 Jan 3, Israel's Yitzhak
Molcho and Palestinian Saeb Erekat met in Jordan in the presence of
envoys from the US, Russia, the EU and the UN. The Palestinian
president threatened to take "new measures" against Israel if a
much-anticipated meeting in Jordan fails to bring about a resumption
of peace talks. There were no significant breakthroughs but both
sides agreed to continue the dialogue.
(AP, 1/3/12)(SFC, 1/4/12, p.A3)

2012 Jan 26, Jordanian activist
Odai Abu-Issa (18) was found guilty of "harming the king's dignity"
for burning a street poster of the monarch and has been sentenced to
two years in prison. Abu-Issa torched King Abdullah II's poster in
front of a government office in southwestern Jordan two weeks ago.
(AP, 1/26/12)

2012 Jan 29, In Jordan Hamas
chief Khaled Meshaal met with King Abdullah II on his first official
visit since his 1999 expulsion, calling the trip a "new good start"
towards better ties with the kingdom.
(AFP, 1/29/12)

2012 Feb 9, A Jordanian
prosecutor said he has ordered, Mohammed al-Dahabi, the former head
of the General Intelligence Department, to be detained for 14 days
pending a probe on charges of embezzlement of public funds, money
laundering and abuse of office.
(AP, 2/9/12)
2012 Feb 9, Jordanian public
school teachers ignored government calls to halt their strike to
press for full annual bonuses, leaving hundreds of thousands of
students at home.
(AFP, 2/9/12)

2012 Feb 26, A Jordanian
government official said more than 80,000 Syrian refugees have fled
the nearly 11 months of violence in their homeland and settled in
neighboring Jordan.
(AP, 2/26/12)

2012 Mar 23, Hundreds of
Jordanians demonstrated against what they charged was
"procrastination" on reform in the country, as opposition Islamists
vowed to continue their protests.
(AFP, 3/23/12)

2012 Mar 31, Amnesty
International urged Jordan to free six political activists charged
with insulting King Abdullah II, saying that at least three of them
were beaten during interrogation. The men were arrested and charged
by military prosecutors in mid-March after a demonstration in the
southern city of Tafileh. Jordanian security forces arrested 12
activists for insulting the country's King Abdullah II in a rally in
Amman.
(AFP, 3/31/12)(AP, 3/31/12)

2012 Apr 15, Jordan's King
Abdullah II ordered the release of 19 political activists charged
with insulting him during pro-reform demonstrations last month.
(AFP, 4/15/12)

2012 Apr 17, British
authorities arrested radical Islamist cleric Abu Qatada (51), who is
accused of ties to late Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden, as they
resumed efforts to deport him to Jordan. The UK government has been
trying to extradite the Jordanian since 2005 arguing that he is a
threat to national security. He was convicted in Jordan in absentia
of involvement in terror attacks in 1998, and faces a retrial on his
return.
(AFP, 4/17/12)

2012 Apr 24, Jordanian
authorities detained journalist of Jamal Muhtaseb for publishing
online statements alleging misconduct by royal officials. On May 13
Muhtaseb, chief editor of Gerasa News, was released on bail after
publishing a report on a graft probe into a $7 billion housing
project.
(AP, 4/24/12)(AFP, 5/13/12)

2012 Apr 26, Jordan's PM Awn
Khasawneh (62) submitted his resignation to King Abdullah II, barely
six months after he formed a government to bring in much-needed
reforms. Khasawneh cited interference from the palace.
(AFP, 4/26/12)(Econ, 5/5/12, p.48)

2012 Apr, In Jordan girl (14)
was shopping in the northern city of Zarqa when a man (19) kidnapped
her, took her to the desert where he had a pitched a tent, and raped
her for three consecutive days. Within days news emerged that the
boy had agreed to marry the girl, while all charges against him were
dropped. Article 308 allows rape charges to be dropped if the
perpetrator agrees to marry the victim. He cannot divorce the woman
for five years. Jordanians, particularly women activists, have held
several street protests against the law.
(AFP, 6/28/12)

2012 May 19, The European Bank
for Reconstruction and Development approved investment of 1.0
billion euros for expansion into north Africa and the Middle East
under its first British president, Suma Chakrabarti, who a day
earlier replaced Thomas Mirow from Germany. The EBRD is planning to
invest specifically in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan.
(AFP, 5/19/12)

2012 May 27, In Jordan Vivian
Salameh (45) a Christian woman, said she is suing her Gulf Arab
employer for arbitrary dismissal after she refused a new dress code
forcing her to cover her head. She had worked at Jordan's Industrial
Development Bank for 25 years when it was acquired in 2010 by the
Jordan Dubai Islamic Bank, an offshoot of the Dubai Islamic Bank.
(AP, 5/27/12)

2012 Jun 21, Syrian pilot
Colonel Hassan Merei al-Hamade sought political asylum after landing
his MiG fighter jet in neighboring Jordan, in the first such
defection of the revolt. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
said at least 77 people were killed today in violence across the
country, among them 49 civilians, 26 soldiers, and two rebels.
(AFP, 6/21/12)

2012 Jul 10, Jordan said it has
set up a camp to accommodate a growing number of refugees fleeing
violence in Syria.
(AP, 7/10/12)

2012 Jul 12, In Jordan the
Muslim Brotherhood's shura advisory council voted to boycott
parliamentary elections because of "lack of political reform."
(AFP, 7/13/12)

2012 Jul 22, A top US official
said that Washington has given $100 million in aid to Jordan to help
host tens of thousands of Syrians who have fled the unrest back home
and taken refuge in the kingdom.
(AFP, 7/22/12)

2012 Jul 25, The International
Monetary Fund announced it had reached a preliminary deal with
Jordan for a $2 billion loan to steady the country's battered
economy. Jordan currently is hosting more than 140,000 Syrians, and
is building more camps to house the refugees.
(AFP, 7/25/12)

2012 Jul 26, Syrian troops
prepared to launch an all-out offensive on rebel-held districts
across Aleppo, as pro-regime media warned of a looming "mother of
all battles." Jordanian authorities reported that the Syrian army
shot dead a six-year-old Syrian boy while firing at his parents and
a dozen other refugees as they tried to cross the border fence.
Ikhlas Badawi, a female lawmaker from Aleppo, defected to Turkey.
(AFP, 7/26/12)(AFP, 7/27/12)(AP, 7/29/12)

2012 Jul 28, Jordan opened its
first tent camp for Syrians fleeing violence in their country, as
government officials said a surge of refugees left them no other
choice. After 3 years the Zaatari Refugee Camp held 81,000 people
and was counted as the ninth-biggest city in Jordan.
(AP, 7/29/12)(SFC, 8/3/15, p.A2)

2012 Aug 6, A Jordanian
official and a rebel spokesman said Syria's PM Riad Hijab has
defected and fled to neighboring Jordan.
(AP, 8/6/12)

2012 Aug 19, Jordan's
government spokesman sternly criticized Syria for artillery shelling
on its northern border that wounded a Jordanian girl and panicked
other civilians. Four shells landed in Jordan during clashes between
the Syrian military and rebel forces on the Syrian side of the
border.
(AP, 8/20/12)

2012 Aug 23, Jordan's
Paralympic committee said it has withdrawn three members from a
pre-Games training camp in Northern Ireland over charges of sex
offences.
(AFP, 8/23/12)

2012 Aug 29, Jordanian PM Fayez
Tarawneh said that Syrian refugees responsible for violence in a
camp near the border will be deported. About 200 of 21,000 refugees
went on a rampage the previous evening at Zaatari Camp to protest
conditions there.
(AP, 8/29/12)

2012 Sep 1, Jordan and the UN's
refugee agency issued an urgent call to international donors for
$700 million to handle the rapidly rising number of Syrian refugees
seeking safe haven in the country.
(AP, 9/1/12)

2012 Sep 4, A Jordanian
teenager (17) stabbed to death Cheryll Harvey (55), a Texas
missionary living in the kingdom, during an argument that broke out
when she caught him stealing from her apartment.
(AP, 9/7/12)

2012 Oct 5, Thousands of
Jordanians rallied to call for a boycott of upcoming legislative
elections, a challenge to King Abdullah II who has promoted a
parliament-centered reform process to stave off an Arab Spring
uprising in his country.
(AP, 10/5/12)

2012 Oct 10, Jordan's King
Abdullah II appointed Abdullah Ensour, a veteran independent
politician, as his new caretaker prime minister ahead of
parliamentary elections. The new parliament will choose the next
prime minister.
(AP, 10/10/12)
2012 Oct 10, US Defense
Secretary Leon Panetta said the United States has sent 150 military
troops to the Jordan-Syria border to bolster that country's military
capabilities in the event that violence escalates along its border
with Syria.
(AP, 10/10/12)(SFC, 10/11/12, p.A2)

2012 Oct 11, Britain asked
Jordan to pardon radical Islamist preacher Abu Qatada (51) because
evidence used to convict him of terrorism there was obtained through
torture. The Palestinian-born Jordanian cleric, whose real name is
Omar Mahmoud Mohammed Othman, has been convicted in absentia in
Jordan over bomb plots and faces retrial if extradited.
(AP, 10/11/12)

2012 Oct 15, Jordan said it is
planning to open a second camp for Syrian refugees, whose numbers
are expected to climb to 250,000 by the year's end.
(AP, 10/15/12)

2012 Oct 21, Jordanian
officials said 11 men with suspected links to al-Qaida have been
charged with terrorism conspiracy for allegedly planning attacks on
shopping malls and Western diplomatic missions.
(AP, 10/21/12)

2012 Oct 22, A Jordanian
soldier was killed in clashes with armed militants trying to cross
the border into Syria.
(AP, 10/22/12)

2012 Oct 24, Jordan released 18
activists, after a pardon from the king, arrested during a protest
last month when they allegedly chanted against the country's
monarch. Two other men detained with the group remained in custody
because they were not part of the youth activist movement.
(AP, 10/25/12)

2012 Nov 11, A Jordanian
criminal court sentenced the kingdom's ex-intelligence chief to 13
years and three months in prison for embezzlement of public funds,
money laundering and abuse of office. The court also demanded in
court that Mohammed al-Dahabi pay 21 million Jordanian dinars ($29.6
million) in fines to the state and return money he allegedly
laundered and embezzled during his 2005-2008 tenure.
(AP, 11/11/12)

2012 Nov 12, British judges
ruled that Abu Qatada, a radical Islamist cleric described by
prosecutors as a key al-Qaida operative in Europe, cannot be
deported from Britain to Jordan to face terrorism charges. Britain's
Special Immigration Appeals Commission said it was not convinced
that Jordan would guarantee Abu Qatada a fair trial.
(AP, 11/12/12)

2012 Nov 13, In Jordan tensions
rose late in the day after the government announced it was raising
prices for cooking and heating gas by 54% to reduce a massive budget
deficit and secure a $2 billion loan from the International Monetary
Fund.
(AP, 11/14/12)

2012 Nov 14, Hundreds of
Jordanians poured into the streets of several cities for a second
day, burning tires and pelting riot police with stones to protest a
government decision to lift fuel subsidies and raise prices.
Jordanian teachers went on strike to protest price hikes. Gunmen
attacked two police stations and one attacker was killed.
(AP, 11/14/12)

2012 Nov 16, Thousands of
Jordanians took to the streets across the country to call for the
ouster of their US-backed monarch in the fourth day of unrest
sparked by fuel price hikes that have threatened the stability of
this Arab kingdom.
(AP, 11/16/12)

2012 Nov 18, A Jordanian
official said the country's military prosecutor has charged 89
activists with inciting violent revolt, after protests over price
hikes swept through the US-allied kingdom last week.
(AP, 11/18/12)

2012 Dec 10, Jordan's King
Abdullah II ordered the release of 116 protesters jailed for their
involvement in last month's violent rallies against hikes in fuel
prices.
(AP, 12/11/12)

2013 Jan 9, The fiercest winter
storm to hit the Mideast in years brought a rare foot of snow to
Jordan, caused fatal accidents in Lebanon and the West Bank, and
disrupted traffic on the Suez Canal in Egypt. At least eight people
died across the region.
(AP, 1/9/13)

2013 Jan 16, In Jordan a civil
defense spokesman said a fire in a center for Syrian refugees has
killed seven members of a family.
(AP, 1/16/13)

2013 Jan 18, Some 1300
Jordanian Islamists, youth activists and other opposition groups
rallied in the capital, Amman, calling for a boycott of next week's
parliament elections.
(AP, 1/18/13)

2013 Jan 23, Jordanians voted
in a first electoral test for their king's political reforms. A
boycott from his Islamist-led opponents cast doubt over whether the
vote would quell two years of simmering dissent in the streets.
Islamists and other government critics won 37 seats of 150 up for
grabs in the newly empowered parliament.
(AP, 1/23/13)(AP, 1/24/13)

2013 Jan 24, Jordan’s election
commission said 1.3 million Jordanians, or 56.7 percent of nearly
2.3 million people who were registered to vote, had cast their
ballots.
(AP, 1/24/13)

2013 Jan 29, In Jordan a wave
of 21,000 Syrian refugees arrived in the past week, moving into
northern Jordan at about five times the usual daily rate. The
crowded Zatari camp, already struggling with flooding, short
supplies and tent fires, was overwhelmed.
(AP, 1/29/13)

2013 Jan 30, At a conference in
Kuwait Gulf nations answered UN calls to boost humanitarian aid for
Syria with $900 million in pledges even as more refugees poured into
neighboring Jordan and its leader warned resources were strained to
the limit.
(AP, 1/30/13)

2013 Feb 25, Jordan said it has
no official word from Saudi Arabia about one of its citizens, youth
activist Khaled Natour, apprehended by authorities there 50 days
ago.
(AP, 2/25/13)

2013 Feb 27, A Jordanian
official said there is a new surge in Syrians fleeing across the
border to Jordan as fighting intensifies in southern Syria.
(AP, 2/27/13)

2013 Feb 28, Sulaiman Abu
Ghaith, the son-in-law of Osama bin Laden, was captured by the FBI
in Jordan as he was being deported to Kuwait from Turkey. On March 9
he pleaded not guilty in federal court in NY to conspiring to kill
Americans.
(SFC, 2/9/13, p.A5)

2013 Mar 9, Jordan's parliament
voted for the monarchy's caretaker prime minister to form a new
Cabinet, the first time in the country's history that the
legislature rather than the king has decided who will be head of
government. Abdullah Ensour, a former liberal lawmaker, was elected.
(AP, 3/9/13)

2013 Mar 16, In Jordan a bus
carrying Palestinian pilgrims overturned and crashed into a trailer
on a highway near the Israeli border, killing 15 people. 32 pilgrims
were injured.
(AP, 3/16/13)

2013 Mar 20, Jordan’s King
Abdullah II warned that a jihadist state could emerge on his
northern border in Syria with Islamic extremists trying to establish
a foothold in the neighboring country.
(AP, 3/20/13)

2013 Apr 10, Jordan opened a
second camp for Syrians fleeing the civil war at home. Officials
feared that the number of Syrians could double in the next six
months as the fighting escalates.
(AP, 4/10/13)

2013 Apr 17, US Defense
Secretary Chuck Hagel told Congress that the Pentagon is sending
about 200 soldiers from an Army headquarters unit to Jordan to
assist efforts to contain violence along the Syrian border and plan
for any operations needed to ensure the safety of chemical weapons
in Syria.
(AP, 4/18/13)

2013 Apr 19, In Jordan about
100 Syrian refugees threw stones at Jordanian police for preventing
some of them from sneaking out of their desert camp.
(AP, 4/21/13)

2013 Apr 21, A Jordanian
security official said police have arrested eight Syrians on
suspicion of inciting riots at a refugee camp near the Jordan-Syria
border.
(AP, 4/21/13)

2013 May 10, In Iraq a bombing
at a Sunni mosque near Baghdad killed three worshippers and wounded
seven others. Iraq’s border with Jordan was reopened this morning
for the first time since April 29.
(AP, 5/10/13)

2013 May 16, In Jordan a
British-made aerobatic T-67 Firefly trainer crashed near the
Syrian border, killing its two Jordanian pilots.
(AP, 5/16/13)

2013 Jun 3, Jordan said it has
blocked 304 unlicensed national news websites in a step toward
regulating online media widely criticized by the government and
readers for sensational reporting.
(AP, 6/4/13)

2013 Jun 5, Jordanian officials
said that the US will deploy anti-missile batteries and F-16 jet
fighters in the kingdom to bolster its defense capabilities in the
face of a Syrian attack.
(AP, 6/5/13)

2013 Jun 17, Canada said it has
pledged an additional $98.4 million to Jordan to help the Arab
country cope with the costly fallout from the worsening crisis next
door in Syria.
(AP, 6/17/13)

2013 Jun 18, Jordan's King
Abdullah II published a royal decree endorsing a treaty with Britain
that sets the stage for the possible deportation of radical Muslim
preacher Abu Qatada.
(AP, 6/18/13)

2013 Jun 19, In Jordan
infiltrators from Syria clashed with Jordanian soldiers near the
border. One infiltrator was killed and two wounded.
(AP, 6/20/13)

2013 Jun 22, Jordan’s PM
Abdullah Ensour said some 900 US military personnel, including
dozens staying on from joint military drills, are in Jordan to
bolster its defense and prevent the Syrian civil war from spreading
across its border.
(AP, 6/22/13)

2013 Aug 21, Jordan's King
Abdullah II swore in 13 new Cabinet ministers, enlarging the
government as part of promised reforms.
(AP, 8/21/13)

2013 Sep 25, Two Jordanian
border patrol officers were shot and seriously wounded after they
detected six men, affiliated with the banned Salafi Jihadi movement,
attempted to illegally infiltrate into neighboring Syria. On Jan 13,
2014, all six men were sentenced to jail terms.
(AP, 1/13/14)

2013 Nov 12, Jordan's largest
daily, the government-owned Al-Rai, and its sister newspaper
suspended publication after staff held a one-day strike in protest
at state "interference."
(AFP, 11/12/13)

2013 Dec 9, Representatives of
Israel, Jordan and the Palestinians signed a "historic" agreement to
link the Red Sea with the shrinking Dead Sea. The agreement was
signed at the World Bank in Washington, water will be drawn from the
Gulf of Aqaba at the northern end of the Red Sea.
(AFP, 12/9/13)

2013 Dec 29, In Jordan the
criminal court in Amman sentenced two Jordanian men, aged 20 and 23,
to death for killing their sister in June "to cleanse the family’s
honour."
(AFP, 12/29/13)

2013 Dec 31, A Jordanian
security official said British resident Mudar Zahran, a
Jordanian-Palestinian critic of Jordan's monarchy, has been charged
with incitement and insulting the king after calling for revolt on
social media.
(AFP, 12/31/13)

2014 Jan 1, Jordan took over
the UN Security Council presidency, the first day of its two-year
stint on a 15-nation body struggling to cope with conflicts in
Syria, South Sudan.
(Reuters, 1/1/14)

2014 Mar 10, Israeli soldiers
shot and killed a Palestinian judge from Jordan in an altercation at
a crossing point between Jordan and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military said Raed Alaa el-Deen Za'eiter (Raed Zeiter)
had tried to seize a soldier's gun at the Allenby bridge.
(Reuters, 3/10/14)

2014 Mar 11, Israel expressed
its regret over the death of Jordanian judge Raed Zeiter (38) while
he was making his way to the occupied West Bank. He was shot a day
earlier by Israeli soldiers after an altercation at the Allenby
Bridge crossing.
(Reuters, 3/11/14)

2014 Mar 14, In Jordan
protesters fought with riot police outside of the Israeli Embassy,
as some 2,000 demonstrators called on the kingdom to end its peace
treaty with the country over the killing of a Jordanian judge.
(AP, 3/14/14)

2014 Apr 6, Jordanian officials
said bloody riots have erupted at the largest camp for Syrian
refugees, leaving at least one refugee dead by gunshot and 31 people
wounded.
(AP, 4/6/14)

2014 Apr 15, Jordan's
ambassador to Libya was kidnapped in Tripoli by masked gunmen who
attacked his car and shot his driver. Fawaz al-Itan was released on
May 13. In exchange his government sent back to Tripoli Libyan
Islamist militant Mohammed Dersi, who had been serving a life
sentence for a bombing plot.
(Reuters, 4/15/14)(Reuters, 5/13/14)

2014 Apr 16, Jordanian
warplanes hit and destroyed several vehicles trying to cross the
border from Syria. The targets appeared to have been Syrian rebels
with machine guns mounted on civilian vehicles who were seeking
refugee from fighting with government forces.
(Reuters, 4/16/14)

2014 Apr 30, Jordan opened a
new, sprawling tent city to accommodate tens of thousands more
Syrian refugees who are expected to flee their country's fighting in
the deadly war now in its fourth year.
(AP, 4/30/14)

2014 May 11, In Jordan a man
died after being infected with the MERS virus.
(AFP, 5/12/14)

2014 May 24, Pope Francis
called for urgent steps to end Syria's three-year-old civil war as
he arrived in neighboring Jordan.
(Reuters, 5/24/14)

2014 May 26, Jordan ordered
Syria's ambassador to leave the country within 24 hours in a
humiliating public announcement made on state-run media, accusing
him of making "offensive" statements about the kingdom.
(AP, 5/26/14)

2014 May 28, In Jordan a man
(69) died after being infected with the Middle East Respiratory
Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus. This brought to 6 the number of
fatalities in Jordan from MERS since it first emerged in 2012.
(AFP, 6/1/14)

2014 Jun 12, Jordan said it has
reached an agreement with Enefit, an Estonian firm, and its partners
on a $2.1 billion contract to build a 540 MW shale-fueled power
station.
(Econ, 6/28/14, p.58)

2014 Jun 13, Jordanian border
guards opened fire on four vehicles trying to enter illegally from
Syria after they ignored orders to stop. State-run news agency did
not say whether anyone was killed or wounded in the incident.
(AP, 6/14/14)

2014 Jun 22, Iraqi military
officials said Sunni militants have captured the Turabil crossing
with Jordan and the al-Walid crossing with Syria. Militants also
seized Rutba in Anbar province, the fourth town to fall in two days.
(AP, 6/22/14)(Econ, 6/28/14, p.40)

2014 Jun 26, A Jordanian court
acquitted radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada, who was extradited from
Britain last year, of charges of conspiring to commit acts of
terrorism. Authorities continued to detain the preacher because of
separate charges related to a plot to attack tourists during
Jordan's New Year celebrations in 2000.
(Reuters, 6/26/14)

2014 Jun, Jordan freed Isam
Mohammed Taher al-Barqawi (aka Sheik Abu-Mohammed al-Maqdisi) a
leading ideologue of holy war, after he had served some 16 years in
prison. On Oct 27 Maqdisi was again jailed.
(Econ, 11/1/14, p.46)

2014 Jul 11, In Jordan Maher
Rahhal, head of the Liwa al-Mujahideen Brigade, one of the groups
fighting the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, "was shot
twice and killed in Abu Nseir district" in Amman.
(AFP, 7/13/14)

2014 Jul 25, Jordan’s air force
shot down a drone near the Syrian border, but it was not clear where
it came from.
(SFC, 7/26/14, p.A6)

2014 Aug 8, In Jordan tens of
thousands celebrated the "Gaza victory" in the war against Israel,
at a rally organized by the Islamist opposition as hostilities
between Israel and Palestinian militants resumed.
(AFP, 8/9/14)

2014 Aug 13, Jordan's King
Abdullah II ordered the activation of a Defense Ministry to support
the military, which is under increasing pressure from the wars in
neighboring Syria and Iraq as well as a massive influx of Syrian
refugees.
(AP, 8/13/14)

2014 Sep 3, US giant Noble
Energy said Israel is to supply Jordan with natural gas from its
vast Leviathan offshore gas field over a period of 15 years in a
deal valued at $15 billion.
(AFP, 9/3/14)

2014 Sep 23, The United States
and its Arab allies bombed Syria for the first time. Bahrain,
Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates
participated in or supported the strikes against Islamic State
targets. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 70
Islamic State fighters were killed in strikes that hit at least 50
targets in Raqqa and Deir al-Zor and Hasakah provinces. It also said
at least 50 fighters and 8 civilians were killed in strikes
targeting al Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, the Nusra Front, in northern
Aleppo and Idlib provinces.
(Reuters, 9/23/14)

2014 Sep 24, A Jordanian court
acquitted radical Muslim preacher Omar Mahmoud Othman (aka Abu
Qatada), known for his fiery pro-al-Qaida speeches, of involvement
in a plot to target Israeli and American tourists and Western
diplomats in Jordan more than a decade ago.
(AP, 9/24/14)(SFC, 9/25/14, p.A4)

2014 Sep 27, Air strikes hit
Islamic State and other Islamist groups in eastern Syria. US strikes
hit the besieged area around Kobani and forces from Saudi Arabia,
Jordan and the UAE contributed to strikes around the country.
(Reuters, 9/27/14)(SSFC, 9/28/14, p.A8)

2014 Nov 7, In Jordan several
thousand protesters took to the streets, calling on the government
to scrap its peace deal with Israel following escalating violence at
the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.
(Reuters, 11/7/14)

2014 Dec 17, The UN Security
Council renewed for 12 months its authorization for humanitarian
access without Syrian government consent into rebel-held areas of
Syria at four border crossings from Turkey, Iraq and Jordan.
(Reuters, 12/17/14)

2014 Dec 24, In nofthern Syria
the Islamic State group captured Jordanian pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh
(26) after his warplane from the US-led coalition was reportedly
shot down while on a mission against the jihadists. The US and
Jordan’s military dismissed the jihadists' claim to have hit the jet
with an anti-aircraft missile.
(AP, 12/24/14)(AFP, 12/26/14)

2015 Jan 17, Japanese PM Shinzo
Abe pledged $2.5 billion in humanitarian and development aid for the
Middle East as he launched a regional tour that includes visits to
Jordan and Israel.
(AFP, 1/17/15)

2015 Jan 28, Jordan offered to
hand over Sajida al-Rishawi, an Iraqi woman on death row for her
role in a 2005 suicide bomb attack, if Lieutenant Muath al-Kasaesbeh
captured by Islamic State was released.
(Reuters, 1/28/15)

2015 Jan 29, Jordan demanded
proof from Islamic State militants that a Jordanian pilot they are
holding is still alive, despite purported threats by the group to
kill the airman at sunset unless an al-Qaida prisoner is freed from
death row in Jordan.
(AP, 1/29/15)

2015 Feb 3, Supporters of the
Islamic State insurgent group circulated photos on social media
purporting to show captive Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kasaesbeh being
burnt alive.
(Reuters, 2/3/15)

2015 Feb 4, Jordan executed a
pair of Iraqi prisoners after a declaration of "punishment and
revenge" against the jihadist group. Sajida al-Rishawi and Ziyad
Karboli had been sentenced to death in Jordan years ago, the former
for an attempted suicide bombing as part of a deadly attack on Amman
hotels in 2005, the latter for killing a Jordanian national and
working closely with former Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab
al-Zarqawi.
(Reuters, 2/4/15)

2015 Feb 5, Jordanian fighter
jets pounded Islamic State hideouts in Syria and then roared over
the hometown of a pilot killed by the militants while King Abdullah
consoled the victim's family below.
(Reuters, 2/5/15)

2015 Feb 6, Thousands of
Jordanians packed the streets of the capital Amman, urging their
monarch to step up air strikes on Islamic State to avenge its
killing of pilot Mouath al-Kasaesbeh.
(Reuters, 2/6/15)

2015 Feb 7, Jordan carried out
a third straight day of air strikes on Islamic State targets.
(Reuters, 2/7/15)
2015 Feb 7, The United Arab
Emirates said it has ordered a squadron of F-16 fighters to Jordan,
which would participate in airstrikes on the Islamic State group
after the UAE earlier suspended its involvement.
(AP, 2/7/15)

2015 Feb 8, Jordan said it has
launched 56 airstrikes against Islamic State group weapons depots,
training centers and military barracks since militants released a
video of them burning a Jordanian pilot to death.
(AP, 2/8/15)

2015 Feb 10, The European Union
said it is providing 100 million euros ($113 million) in loans to
Jordan to help it deal with the fallout from crises like the
conflicts in neighboring Syria and Iraq.
(AP, 2/10/15)
2015 Feb 10, The United Arab
Emirates launched airstrikes against the Islamic State group from an
air base in Jordan.
(AP, 2/10/15)

2015 Feb 15, A Jordanian court
sentenced Zaki Bani Rsheid (57), a senior leader of the Muslim
Brotherhood, to 18 months in prison for criticizing a decision by
the United Arab Emirates to blacklist his organization.
(AFP, 2/15/15)
2015 Feb 15, Bahrain said it
will send troops to support regional ally Jordan.
(AP, 2/15/15)

2015 Feb 16, Bahrain said it
has deployed fighter planes to help support Jordan, a day after it
announced plans to send troops to the kingdom.
(AP, 2/16/15)

2015 Mar 24, Jordan signed a
$10 billion deal with Russia to build the kingdom's first nuclear
power plant, with two 1,000-megawatt reactors in the country's
north.
(AP, 3/24/15)

2015 Apr 1, Jordan closed its
main border crossing with Syria amid fierce clashes between rebels
and pro-regime forces for control of the Jaber post.
(AFP, 4/1/15)

2015 Apr 19, Jordan launched a
competition among elite anti-terrorism squads from 18 countries,
including fellow members of military coalitions fighting rebels in
Yemen and Islamic State extremists in Iraq and Syria.
(AP, 4/19/15)

2015 May 5, In Jordan thousands
of soldiers from 18 countries took part in military drills jointly
overseen by the US army.
(AFP, 5/5/15)

2015 Jun 5, Former Iraqi
foreign minister Tareq Aziz (79) died. Aziz had been on death row
since October 2010 after being convicted of murder and crimes
against humanity. Jordanian authorities soon accepted a request from
his family to bring his remains to be buried in Jordan.
(AFP, 6/6/15)

2015 Jul 28, Twelve Jordanians
were sentenced to jail terms of up to 15 years for their involvement
in a cell recruiting members for the Palestinian Islamist movement
Hamas. Four of the twelve were sentenced in absentia.
(AFP, 7/28/15)

2015 Jul 29, Jordan handed down
jail sentences against seven of its citizens and a Syrian for
planning attacks on US soldiers in the country and on the Israeli
embassy. The Jordanians were all arrested in May 2014. The Syrian,
who was tried in absentia, was sentenced to 15 years.
(AFP, 7/29/15)

2015 Sep 6, More than 250
people injured in Yemen's conflict were flown in to Jordan for
hospital treatment.
(AFP, 9/6/15)

2015 In Jordan incoming Syrian
refugees now made up a fifth of the population.
(Econ, 7/4/15, p.40)